Baby Bones
by Lillipad Harlee
Summary: A strange magic covers the multiverse, targeting the two residing gods. It leaves them weak and without memories. Join the multiverse crew as they help their friends, make new ones, and learn that everything is not as black and white as it may seem as they try to fix the damage done.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The magic swishes around his bone, encasing him as his body glitches in distress. He desperately tries to claw it off with string covered hands, his magic battling against the intrusion and losing. He screams in fear, begging for help as his glitched voice echoes against the white.

But nobody came.

And he was consumed.

…

Fear pounds through his body as a strange feeling forces its way through him, his paintbrush dropped from white fingers. Standing, he stumbles away, blindly trying to get away from the magic starting to encase him. Paint splatters onto the ground, surrounding his now kneeling form. His vision goes black and he passes out. Consumed by magic not his own.

…

Dream happily jumps into Ink's home, floating around the universe's on paper and small islands. He looks around for the creator, frowning slightly when he is not spotted. He lands on the biggest isle, walking around origami trees and shapeshifting creatures made of colorful ink. It was weird that Ink could not be found floating around and looking after the au's, but not unheard of, so Dream wasn't too worried.

Often times, when the creator wasn't found watching the au's while sketching something or another, he could be found on one of his islands, the most likely to find him on being the biggest isle that Dream traverses now, looking for any sign of the colorful skeleton. Finding none, he stops and contemplates where Ink could be. Turning around to do a more close search of the island a splash of colors catch his eyelights. They focus on a canvas with a half finished painting of a landscape with paint capsules tipped over and covering the dirt, surrounding a heap of clothes; Ink's clothes.

Now more than slightly worried, Dream rushes over to the clothes pile. He inspects it for any sign of the skeleton, or blood from an injury. He did not like the idea of a naked Ink running around injured. Finding no sign of an injury, Dream breathes out a sigh of relief. However, that leaves a very important question of where Ink could possibly be, and without his clothes too. Just the thought of a naked Ink roaming around has Dream blushing for various reasons. It was very undignified, after all.

Picking up the clothes pile with the intentions of finding Ink and giving him a lecture on why clothes stay on, 'no, you can not follow in the ways of underlust', he finds it to be heavier than what it should be with an oddly shaped solid thing in the middle. Confused, Dream starts to unwrap the bundle. What he sees shocks him. He was going to need help.

…

Red grumbles and glares at all the other Sans' and Papyrus', particularly the younger brothers that came to this impromptu meeting that Dream had called, meaning all of them. The board of originals, a very original name, had been called together, in the middle of the night he might add, by Dream about Ink. Now, don't get Red wrong, he cares about what goes on with the creator, especially if it's something bad, because the guys their protector from being stronger than themselves, as much as he hates that, but right now, in the middle of his sleep cycle, is not a good time for anything. So, as he glares about the room, his younger, more energetic brother behind him and glaring at him, he thinks that this better be good in the sense of it being life threatening. Because if it was not, then he was going to have a good time, one way or another.

"Okay," Dream says, finally starting the meeting. Weirdly enough, he was holding a bundle of cloth to his chest very protectively. "So I know a lot of you must not be happy with being here now, and as a thank you for coming, I will personally see to it that you get the best dreams of your life for a week."

"Oh, honey," Lust interrupts, "There's only one Dream I want." He winks to the now flustered Dream. His brother, Pink, just lightly pats his head and tells him he to go to sleep and he'll explain it to Lust later. Apparently Lust gets more horny and flirtatious the more tired he is.

'Lucky ass', Red thinks, looking around again and seeing that the only older brother still awake besides him is Mob and Slim. He decides that the one to blame for this transaction of unfairness is Dream and turns all of his glaring intent at the now yellow glowing skeleton.

"Um, so I'm just going to get to the point, so that I don't waste any more of your time. Ink got turned into a baby."

Silence encases the room as Dream starts to unravel the bundle. Inside, Red can see a tiny skeletal head with closed eyes and ink stained cheeks. He checks the baby.

 _Name; Ink_

 _Attack;10 (with paint brush plus 50 attack, with paint plus 10 attack)_

 _Defence; 30 (with scarf plus 20 defence, with hoodie plus 5 defence)_

 _HoPE; 120_

 _LoVE; 1_

 _He is now a sleeping younger brother._

Red could hardly believe his eyes, so he turns to Edge. His older brother doesn't pay him any mind as he stars harder at the sleeping face that Dream presented them with.

"How did this happen?" Edge finally asked.

"I don't know. I just found him like this." Dream answers, nervously pulling the bundle closer to his chest. "But that's not the only reason I called you guys here. You see; I can't take care of him. I'm already behind in my work and I need to get going. But I can't take anyone with me, especially not a baby that probably doesn't know how to use his magic, so I wanted to know if any of you could take him in, if only for a little while? Please?"

One by one the younger brothers expressed their regrets at not having the time or the privacy to take him in. One by one, each universe was taken off till there was just two. Underfell and Swapfell.

"Honestly, I would kill the brat at the first sign of a tantrum, and my mutt has better things to do than look after yours." Razz says.

Red starts to sweat as his own brother remains silent. Underfell was not a good place to have children, especially ones so colorful and bright. Not unless they were under the Kings watch. There was no way they could keep him, even if only for a day.

"We have time."

Are the dreaded words that comes from behind him. Everyone looks uncomfortable with these words, Dream looks like he would rather take his chances of bringing the child along, but he soon gives in. Everyone awake watches with trepidation (except fucking Razz) as Edge is handed the baby. Really, his brother was the best choice for handling children, and Red actually loves them, never felt more alive than when he was getting a beating to protect his bro, it was just the universe that was the problem. They couldn't allow the little tike outside, not without serious supervision, and they had things to do, as much as Red doesn't want to do them, so they couldn't stay inside to watch over him. He doesn't see how this is going to end in anything but a problem.

However, he kept his mouth shut. He watched as Dream handed over the bundle, how his brothers eye sockets softened just slightly and his mouth gave a twitch of a smile. The way his large hands, big enough to cover Sans' own skull, carefully cradles the weaker being. He kept his mouth shut because of how much joy he could see in his brother with such a little thing as being able to protect such a precious light. And he knows exactly how that feels.

What the hell had they gotten themselves into?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Red stares at the forever shifting eyelights as they stare back. Baby Ink had finally woke up and the first thing he did was scream. Red was jostled from his sleep, unconsciously shortcutting to his brothers room where Ink was being kept. Edge was freaking out, though no one but Red could notice, and the little Ink was only getting louder. So, with a little hesitation, Red takes Ink from Edge and sets him down, sitting beside him and pulling a plush animal from the void. He kept various things in there, including a lot of trash that he was too lazy to put in to actual trash can, don't ask why a stuffed animal was something he kept.

The little devil, having be presented by an offering, and no longer being touched by a stranger, quiets down. He takes the worn down tiger and clutches it tight, staring in fear at the larger and meaner looking monster before him.

Edge looks between his brother any the screamer, trying not to feel disappointed, no one could be great at everything without practice, and Red has had a lot of practice with raising Edge when Red himself was still but a child. Edge could admit that was not easy to get along with even in his best of moods, and that as a child, he had been a spoiled brat that got Red many of his scars simply because he was arrogant and young. Of coarse Reds perfect for this, no one else would be because no one else would have put up with Edge for as long as his own brother has.

"Maybe he should sleep in your room." He quietly says.

"Naw, boss." Red replies, turning away from the kid, "No room on my bed. Besides, I think he would do better on his own bed."

"Then we'll drag the cot into your room for you to sleep on so he can sleep in your bed. This is not up for debate, Sans."

Red sighs and nods his head, looking at the yawning baby. He could tell that his brother was hurt that he couldn't calm the little devil, and that it had only taken Red a second to figure out what was wrong and act accordingly. But he wouldn't broach the subject his brother won't, at least not tonight. He needs sleep, and so does the little one.

"We'll get the cot later, I'm so tired I could sleep with the dead."

Edge chooses to ignore the subtle skeleton out, not because it was better than his usual but because Red was moving, slowly reaching out for the tired Ink, making sure that he wasn't going to start screaming again. That had been quiet the wake up call.

But no, Ink only clung tighter to his new toy as Red picked him up. Edge was slightly jealous of how things turned out with his older brother being the favored, but he's since grown from childish ways, he would soon be just as favored with the little Ink.

"G'night, boss." Red says before shortcutting to his room.

"Goodnight, Sans." Edge whispers under his breath, standing there and think before walking over to his desk to finish this week's reports, if he was going to be trusted and liked by baby Ink, he was going to need to spend as much time with him as he could. That included filling for his brothers and his own vacation days. He's almost sick thinking about it.

In the morning, Red wanted to fight waking up. He had gotten less than ideal sleep and the floor was more comfy than should be possible. However, the little devil had other plans. Little Ink was quite literally knocking on his skull. Opening his eyes, he comes face to face with his phone, the alarm about to go off. Just as he's about to sit up and thank the kid, his chubby little fingers let go and it falls in to his sock.

"Fuck!" Red yells out, barely hearing the gasp from beside him. He quickly sits up, bending his head forward, trying to get it out. It didn't hurt, but it didn't feel good either. And that just had to be when the alarm went off. It caused him to jump, which in turn cause Ink to jump, and he lets out a strangled 'shit.' before he shoves his hand inside his socket, scrapping about as he tries to find his phone. His skull wasn't that big, how hard could it be, even for an airhead like him? Hehe.

"Sans, shut off your damn alarm!" Edge screams from the kitchen. He hated that damn cheery tune that Blueberry had installed and his brother was to lazy to change. If he was to make the perfect breakfast ever, he needed to remain calm.

"Shit." Red says again, shaking his head in hopes of getting the phone at a better angle but with no luck. The alarm shut off on its own, but Red knew he only had five minutes before it went off again and his hand still haven't gotten a good hold on it. With a sigh, he gives up and looks at the kid. Ink was looking terrified, he know he had messed up, but Red wasn't going to do anything for an accident. "You're a monster, Ink." He dead pans, tossing in a wink with the eye that doesn't have the phone.

Ink gave out a little giggle, hugging his tiger into his face. Red smiles at the sight.

He soon gets up with a tired groan, stretching his sore limbs. Note to self; the floor really isn't as comfortable as it seems. With a gigantic yawn, he opens his door and walks out and down the hallway, looking over to see Ink right behind him. With a smile he goes down the stairs, stopping halfway to watch the kid struggle. But he had a look of determination that Red had only seen on the humans that stopped him from offering help. The little devil wouldn't take it.

When Ink reached the halfway point, Reds phone once again started up with his alarm, startling both of them, and Edge if the curse and he'll to 'Turn that blasted shit off, Sans' was anything to go by. Ink had let go off the railing bars that supported the actual railing since he was too small to hold it, his little leg giving out as his foot hit the next step and he starts a tumble, his mouth opening to let out a gasp, but before any damage could be done, he was encased in blue. He looks up at Red, the eye with the phone still ringing as it lights up red with some blue from the phone lighting up too. Carefully he was lowered to the bottom step and let go. Ink looks back at the now rescinding monster before taking that last step.

Edge comes out of the kitchen baring pancakes and a glare that would slice through any one with its power. He looks over at the noise offender, slightly taken off guard to find it actually being from inside his brothers head. The younger, but taller and infinitely more handsome brother, sets the pancakes down on the coffee table, along with plates and fork. He gives a smirk as he struts over to Red and grabs his older brothers jaw, lifting his head up and pulling off his glove for more finesse.

"I always knew you were a numbskull." He declares before shoving his hand into Reds skull, making him choke on the laughter that had bubbled up, and quickly taking the phone out of his brothers skull.

"Aw, damn, Boss." Red gasps out, hand covering his offended eye socket.

"You'll get over it." Edge snorts out, going over to the table where Ink was poking at the pancakes, pulling his finger back to admire the syrup.

"That's for eating, not playing." He lightly admonishes, dishing out the food and sitting down when he was done.

Red picks up the little devil boy that went by the name of Ink and sets him on the couch, giving him his small plate and a plastic fork before grabbing his own share and starting to eat.

However, an accidental glance at the time has him stopping.

"Uh, Boss?" He questions, "Shouldn't you be going to work?"

Now that Red actually looked, Edge wasn't in his body armor, nor did he look like he was going to change. It was freaking him out, his brother was never late, he even did work on his days off.

"No, Sans. We're on vacation."

Okay, now he was terrified. The Boss never takes vacations, Red stopped begging him to take even a five minute break long ago. This was unheard of. Bet Undyne just about had a stroke.

"What?"

"A vacation, Sans." Edge says with waning patience. He did not want to taking one in the first place, the least his brother could do was not act so frightened of the prospect.

Red glances around the house, making sure that everything was in place; his pet rock that Edge treats like a king, check; the bloodstains and dust residues that Red could not get out no matter how many hours he spent scrubbing and deep cleansing, check; the cracks in the walls from fight about various thing, check; little Ink stealing from his plate because the pancakes on his own weren't as good as the ones on Reds, check. Everything seems to be in place. Red looks back at his brother who seem engrossed with the Tv, considering it was just white noise, Red kind of doubted that was the truth. He chose to ignore the thieving devil.

"Are you okay, Boss?" Because obviously something had to be wrong.

Edge deeply sighs, causing Red to flinch. He sets down his finished plate and turns to look at his brother. "He's stealing your food."

Red looks down before looking up again, "Yeah, uh, kids do that sometimes. You did it a lot." He shifts uncomfortably, now no longer able to look at his brother.

"I see." Edge muses, "Well, that's the reason that were on vacation."

"...because kids eat off other people's plates?"

"What? No, you numbskull, because of the kid we now have in our house. You can't honestly expect to go to work with Ink here in this condition." Edge stands and gathers the plates, even the one left in Reds lap, and heads to the kitchen to clean up, "Now go get him cleaned. I will not tolerate any lack of hygiene in my house."

"S-sure thing, Boss."

Red hurriedly grabs Ink, taking him to the bathroom and washing of all the sticky syrup.

"This reminds me, kid. We need to get you some clothing, a scarf ain't gonna cut it."

Ink smiles brightly at him, shoving his tiger in Reds face and giggling.

"Yeah, yeah, I see the tiger, you little devil." His stomach rumbles to be remembered, "Damit, I didn't eat anything."

An: please don't expect me to finish this story, I'm very horrible at that. But I've got a few chapters that I'll post before I inevitably give up. Sorry if anything comes out weird, I had some problems with this chapter when trying to post it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

His head hurt. No, not just his head but his whole body. He was shaking from the pain, it was consuming his every thought. He couldn't escape, he couldn't get away. He was scared, terrified and screaming. But all there was was white. Nothing but white, endlessly continuing white. He screams for help, but nobody came.

With one last ditch effort to leave the white and pain, he heaves his body through the air. It hits him cold now, but he does not get HoPE, he does not even cry out any longer, for all he sees is white before everything goes black.

…

"Look," Red reasons, "I know it's not perfect, but you gotta wear it, understand? The scarf can stay on, but that's not all you're wearing, so put on the damn shirt."

He holds out a black shirt with golden stitches to Ink, it was big enough to be more like a dress for the little guy so they could worry about pants another day. Edge had given up long ago and has resorted to glaring at paperwork he could no longer do since he was on vacation. Honestly, Red was just glad he hadn't blown up the house in rage and frustration, though he feels like those actions could be his any second now. Never had Edge ever gone without clothes, he loved the scraps of cloth too much to not wear them, so this clothing issue was entirely new to Red, and so frustrating. How hard could it be to wear a simple shirt? Especially since Red knows how much Ink loved wearing multiple layers before this happened. Maybe it was the color? He never did see Ink in a lot of black, and those few times that he did wear black he also wore neons to better enjoy a rave. But not wearing black would just make him stand out too much in this world if he was ever seen, which hopefully he never would be.

Ink shakes his head no, turning away for the umpteenth time in the last hour that they've been trying to get him dressed. Red groans in exasperation at the ceiling. Reluctantly, he looks back at Ink.

"Ink, please. Wear the damn shirt, for me?" He begs, about ready to just allow the kid to roam naked.

"No." Ink answers, almost as quiet as a whisper. It's the most they've gotten out of him that wasn't screams.

"Why? Why won't you wear it?" By this point, Red was just desperate for answers, anything would do if it fixed this delima.

"Dirty." Was the simple, quiet answer. It was too dirty.

Red lets out a disbelieving laugh, staring at Ink. He was crazy, turning his nose up at a little dirt. Now he remembers how his brother always made him scrub the clothing they found till Reds fingers bled because the great Papyrus could not be seen wearing anything that wasn't pristine. So he gets up and numly walks to the kitchen sink. He turns on the faucet and lathers the shirt with a shit ton of soap. For ten minutes he scrubs the shirt clean, because like hell Ink wasn't going to wear it. Soon the gold was shining like the real thing and he was drying it out with a bit of magic. The damn thing looked brand fucking new. Just how Ink wanted it, apparently, because the second it was presented to him again, it was on in a second.

Red flops down on the couch beside the boss, tired from that taxing trial. It wasn't even ten yet and he wanted the day to be done. Or to at least go to work.

"Paps," Red whispers, too tired to care, "I'm outta practice. It would have taken me a second to know what you were unsatisfied with, but with Ink…"

"How about I read him a story?" Edge suggests.

"You do that." Red mutters, already halfway asleep. Usually Edge would not allow any naps, but after what Red went through to simply get Ink in a shirt, he would allow Red this one mercy.

He chose to read Ink his favorite story, 'The Angry Bunny'. As the story ends, he shuts the book and Inks stomach rumbles for food.

"Are you hungry again?" Edge slowly asks Ink. He gets a small nod and a smile as an answer. "You're going to be just like Sans, aren't you? Always hungry." He grumbles as he walks to the kitchen. He read somewhere that children needed to eat a lot anyways for their growth, magical and physical. So it wasn't that big of a deal.

Edge quickly takes out the leftover pancakes and heats them up. He stares at Ink as the timer goes down. The baby Sans had found a marker and was doodling on Reds face. Edge couldn't find it in himself to feel pity for his brother, that's what he gets for falling asleep during a mission, for of course this was a mission. It could not be anything else or Edge just might lose it. Though the mystery of where the markers came from just might do it.

When the microwave beeps, Edge removes the plate of pancakes and sets it down on the coffee table. Looking at Inks handy work, Edge has to admit that he's impressed, for such a young skeleton he was quite skilled, but he wouldn't be Ink if he wasn't. Currently there resided butterflies, flowers and hearts on his brothers skull, the crack along his eye socket colored green to be a vine for a bright yellow and smiling flower. Looking over at the eating child, Edge picks up a red marker and doodles a drawing of his own. He soon got the giggle seal of approval from Ink and they both decided to go up and doodle on paper in Edges room.

Red wakes up with a start, looking around the living room without seeing it as the last dredges of the nightmare recides to the back of his mind. He slowly relaxes, allowing the memories of what happened yesterday and today to fill his mind. Now calm, he looks around once more, noting the lack of fellow skeletons. He wasn't worried, nothing looks out of place and he would have awoken if there had been a threat, so he debates with himself over whether he should get up and go to Edges room or not, because where else would they be?

Finally, with the curiosity of how well they're getting along running tamper through his bones, he heaves himself off of the couch and up the stairs to the bosses room. The last time he teleported near the boss in the house, he got a broken rib.

Opening the door, Red peeks inside to find his brother and the devil sewing on construction paper and making origami hearts. The cutesy scene had Red shocked, since when could his brother draw?

Deciding that they were fine, Red shuts the door quietly and and heads to his room where he flopped on his bed and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

An: I'm impatient and twitchy.

Chapter Four

Edge opens his eye sockets to the sound of someone pounding on his door. His first thought was that it was Undyne coming over for a surprise visit, but she would have already busted through. No, this was not her doing, besides that she was still in hot land going over training regimens with the recruites. Taking the still sleeping Ink off his chest and placing him on his bed, Edge quickly puts on his battle body, listening as Red goes down there and yells at whomever is banging at the door to 'Shut the hell up, it's two in the fucking morning, assholes!' which a quick look at his bedside alarm told him that it was indeed two in the morning. Well, two nineteen to be exact.

He finishes strapping on his chest plate and opens his door, looking around as he closes it behind him. Red had turned on the living room light and pulled the blinds open enough for him to look out, he shuts it and turns toward Edge when the younger brother is halfway down the stairs. They were still pounding on the door, and the look on Reds face told Edge that it wasn't for a cup of tea.

"It's the fucking werewolf followers, Boss. They ain't here to play nice."

He had suspected as much. This was a really bad time with Ink being in the house, hell, this universe. They'll just have to keep the 'followers' out of the house.

"Call Undyne. We can't risk not asking for help with Ink here, but don't let her know we need it."

"Of course, Boss." Red agrees, pulling out his phone and dialing before Edge had even finished, he gives a thumbs up with a head tilt; a 'You got this?'

Edge nods his head. He waits until Red is in the kitchen before knocking back on the door, he wouldn't open it even if Ink wasn't here.

"Shut up already you peasants!" He yells out in his most commanding voice. They fall silent on the other side. "What is it do you want that couldn't wait until morning?"

Murmuring erupts on the other side. Apparently they don't know. That pisses Edge off to no end and he starts to growl loud enough for them to hear.

"Enough! If you don't know what you want, then leave. I am already fed up with you."

No one on the other side moves. Edge sighs, couldn't they ever listen? No, apparently they couldn't, because soon they started chanting something and it made Edges blood run cold. Mention of this always did.

"Dust. Dust. Dust. Dust! Dust! Dust! DUST!"

…

Red enters the kitchen looking through the blinds on the tiny kitchen window above the stove, why they had one there, don't ask him. He sees even more monster milling about, all ones he doesn't recognise.

"Damn it." He curses, turning on the stove and allowing the flames to climb, not enough to be seen outside with the lights on, but enough to hurt any monster who tries to come in through the window.

"What the hell is it?" Asks a tired voice on the other side of the phone, "And it better be good."

"Undyne, we've got a situation in Snowdin that you should come check out." Red answers. He didn't like talking to Undyne, but he was the most tactful when it came to using words to get what he wanted. It's how he got out of a lot of fights with bar patrons, and how he payed for his meals at Grillby's, talking that spider bitch down to a reasonable price once a month for their annual supply swap. He could talk rings around even the king, though he hasn't tried and hopes he will never have to.

"Sans? Aren't you on vacation? What are you doing looking into situations, and in the middle of the night?" Came the confused questions. Which, Red can understand, but this is a life or death situation where not only his brother and his life's are in danger, but a child Inks life too. Stars, Dream is going to tear them a new one.

"Look, I don't like being awoken to a mob of werewolf followers pounding on my door in the middle of the night either, but what can you do? So, like I was saying, me and the boss kinda gotta situation here with the house surrounded and all."

"Phffft, what, you and Papyrus can't handle a few dweebs? Phwehehe."

Red was getting sick of her inability to get off her ass and get over here. So he loses patient, which he has less of than even Edge when it comes to beings other than children, and uses his triumph card.

"Not when we've got a skeleton child hiding in the house."

Complete and utter silence. Red could feel the victory already, could see the look of astonishment on her fish face. And then they started chanting, and his blood ran cold.

"Dust. Dust. Dust. Dust! Dust! Dust! DUST!"

"Undyne?" Red strangled out, backing away to the living room and his brother.

"I'll be there in ten." Is the answer he gets before she hangs up, presumably to haul ass over here and call up the guards.

Great they only had to last ten minutes against a dust starved mob.

…

He could hear the chanting and breaking of wood from all the way over here, but he didn't care. It wasn't his problem if people wanted to tear each other apart. He had tried being helpful once since he's been here, in a single day he learned that you don't help anyone if you don't want to be hurt. It made him sad, but he couldn't change things, only survive and hope for the best. Which was a laughable thing. Him; hope? He doesn't know why, but the idea of those two words in a sentence that didn't turn negative was just laughable. It's made him laugh a few time now whenever the thought crossed his mind.

But even with these thoughts of being useless and how this isn't place for people who want to help, he finds himself being drawn towards the chanting and light. These people were either mad or desperate, and going by the chanting, he would say both.

The house they were tearing down to get into was pretty nice. He liked it, it reminded him of a fuzzy feeling that was new and scary and he didn't want it to go away. But it did at the sight of the shattered windows and busted down doors. Everyone outside was surging in. Not seeing anyone nearby, he walks closer to the house, admiring it. It has scars that told of times like this happening before, patch work from places that holes were, paint that looks identical to the rest, but he could tell where the newer paint resided next to the first coating the house had ever gotten.

He looks around the back, careful to stay out of sight of those fighting inside. It was just as well taken care of as the front. This house was loved and cherished, as it should be. Such a shame that it was being torn down by those heathens for whatever was inside.

A splash of color catches his attention and he looks up at the second story, squinting to try and make out what that blur was. Not able to make things come in focus, he reaches down and pulls out giant red framed glasses, putting them on and looking back up. In the window sat a small skeleton facing the room, watching the door for any sign of intrusion. He looks up at the small skeleton with the brown scarf, curious as to who they were. It was too bad that they would die from the mob.

He should leave, it's not polite to stare at the soon to be dead. For some reason though, he couldn't look away. He watched as the skeleton flinched back, hitting the window. The mobsters must have made it to the second floor and are working on the door. He couldn't leave them like this. Not that it mattered. He couldn't do anything. The kid would probably just use him then leave him in the dust when he was no longer of any use. But that didn't dissuade him. He still wanted to help. Has ever since he came here.

He flinched back as the sound of a shattering door reaches him, a scream soon following from the skeleton. They were terrified. He couldn't leave them like this, so what if it got an attack in his gut, he doesn't even have those.

Looking around, he spots a small pebble, picking it up he takes aim at the window and chunks it. He tries not to feel guilty that it breaks the window, what's one more that the owners will be too dead to fix? The child skeleton turns to look at the window, they look down to spot him and he waves up at them, gesturing for them to come down.

He could see the indiscition in their actions but they were soon opening up the window and climbing out. He holds his arms forward and up in an obvious gesture of 'I got you and the little skeleton jumped. Just in time too, for several arms followed, trying to catch them. They screamed on the way down and he had time for one thought; This was not a good idea. Then the child was ploughing into him, driving them both to the ground and he hears the sound of breaking bones, dimly hoping that it's not the kids.

An: hopefully this is all coming out right.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Red growls at the intruders, daring them to take one more step inside his home. His brother stands strong and confidant beside him, calculating and in control to his own feral ways. Not that looks were everything; when it came to fighting, nobody had a temper like Edge or the patience to wait for an opening like Red.

For a few seconds they were at a stand off, the skeletons waiting for the werewolf followers to make their move. With a screech of insanity, they attacked. Red set up a barricade or sharp and broken bones that switched between red and white that the monsters ran through without care, some falling down as their own small amount of health is cut to zero, the bones breaking off into the legs of the stronger enemies, slowly chipping off their health second by second, point by point.

Red quickly looks around and spots the weaker monsters, he pulls them into a traditional battle, his favorite kind that no one brothers with anymore in this universe, his ten or so opponents pause in confusion, most likely having never been in a traditional battle sequence, and he mows them down quickly with a single blaster. While the others regroup at the sight of such power Red glances over to his brother, watching for a second as Edge goes for the more modern underfell technic, slicing them apart with a more hands on approach, dust spilling everywhere as monster after monster is killed by skeletal hands.

With his brother doing well on his own Red focuses on the monsters right before him. With a wicked grin, he fights with no mercy.

…

However, there was only so much that they could do. They were nowhere near the stairs when Inks pricing screams echo through the house, haunting in pitch and meaning. They couldn't do anything as overwhelmed as they were, enemies coming from all sides and never seeming to stop. Undyne had to be here now, ten minutes had to have passed. For Inks sake, and theirs.

…

When Undyne with her backing of guards finally got to the house, Edge had gone down with a broken tibia, only able to fire out bone attacks from his spot behind Red and against the wall, and Red was reaching down into his emergency reserves trying to keep the mad monsters at bay. They surely would have died if Undyne had been five minutes later. Soon the house was cleared out, monsters killed and captured for questioning. After giving his very quick and not full statement Red races upstairs and begins looking for Ink. He looked under the bed, in the closet, in Edges room, even the unused bathroom. There was no sign of Ink. No dust piles, thank God, but no little skeleton. It was obvious that the mob had gotten upstairs, but the question is, had they gotten to Ink? Red didn't know and that had him freaking out.

Completely ignoring anyone and everything, Red races to Edge. "Boss, I can't find Ink."

That stopped his conversation with Undyne over what happened. They both turn to look at him, which to say the least was scary with how tall they both were. Without a word Edge was soon tearing through the house with Red right on his heels. Undyne was asking questions and Red was trying to answer them as best as he could, but he doesn't even hear the question when asked of him so he has no idea the answers he gave. He quietly realises that he's in shock, and Undyne must have figured it out too, or he told her, because she was soon pushing him to sit and then going to bother Edge, which was rude as all hell, weren't they just talking about where Ink could be?

…

Ink shivers in the cold, trying his hardest to keep up with his savior but it was so hard with his legs being so short compared to the other and the snow coming up to his waist. He doesn't want to ask any more of this kind monster, but Ink needed a break, he couldn't go on for much longer in these conditions.

"E-excuse me?" He tries to call out, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't like to talk, it brought unwanted attention but he had no other way to communicate with people. He clears his throat and tries again, "Sir?"

The monster stops but doesn't turn or speak. He hasn't acknowledged Inks existence since saving him, maybe he was shy too?

Either way, Ink hurries to catch up, stopping beside the monster and looking over at him. He was what seems to be a robe that was black with blue strings where it has been down back together, it hid everything about the monster, like what type he was or how he was feeling. But that could be solved later, Ink liked this monster, he was nice so Ink would try to be nice back.

"I'm tired. Can we take a break, please?"

Silence is his only answer. He tries again, moving around and trying to see the monsters face under his giant hood.

"I'm cold, too." He was wearing just a shirt and scarf, after all. "Aren't you could?" Then again, that rode might keep him nice and toasty.

Again no answer was forthcoming from the monster that saved him and Ink was beginning to feel slightly discouraged. Then the monster was moving again, but in a different direction, Ink could see the rock out crops that he was aiming for, a nice place for a rest. With a tired thankfulness that he had listened, Ink follows. He climbs up the rock after the stranger with a little bit of his help, but only a little. They sat there in silence, Ink rubbing his numb feet, he couldn't feel a thing in them they were so cold. This was terrible and he just wanted to go home to Sans and Boss and listen to them bicker and eat Bosses food and sleep in his bed with Sans guarding him by sleeping on the floor, and he would give them so many hug and tell them that he loved them because he does, and he would talk to them and not worry them by being shy. He just wanted to go home.

They were resting on a rock grouping, gathering strength. He hadn't realised how tired he was until the other skeleton had spoken. For a minute there he had even forgotten about having company.

He looks over the winter wasteland in contemplation. He doesn't know for how long he's been wandering about, but now that he had a companion that got tired easily, he would have to settle down. He thinks back to the places he's been throughout his time here, seeing in his mind's eye which would be closer to go to, even if only temporarily.

A quiet snivel catches his attention and he turns to look over at the small skeleton. He was crying, was he hurt? Had something happened while he had been thinking? Had HE done something wrong?

With hesitant hands, he reaches out, trying to find the problem. His hideously scarred hands make contact with the fellow child's shoulder and they both freeze. Silence falls upon them, even the wind goes quiet. Then the pure skeleton is hugging him, gripping tight to his broken ribs and shaking as he cries. All he could do was hug back.

"I-I want-t t-to go-o h-ho-ome!"

The little skeleton cries out, clinging tighter. He doesn't answer, he never does. He just waits. Waits and thinks.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Glitchy glitches as he tries not to drop the now sleeping skeleton who was only a head smaller than him. The newly named skeleton, courtesy of Ink, was walking them back very carefully to the attacked house. He had thought it over and really, what does he know about taking care of others? He couldn't do anything to protect the little-er guy, Glitchy didn't even have a home to keep them in to protect them from the elements. So really, even though the house was most likely ripped apart, it was the safest place they could think of.

So Glitchy had zipped Ink up in his jacket to keep him warm and started the hour long trek back to the nice, now surly broken, house. It wasn't all bad, maybe the caretakers of Ink were alright and had survived the mob attack. Unlikely, but Glitchy was willing to take the chances.

So he walks through the night, looking for anything that would wish them harm with his bad eyes. He holds his bundle closely to protect the precious cargo he found himself in charge of.

Within an hour, they arrived to the house. It was broken; the windows shattered, walls barely able to stay up, and the doors gone. There were monsters tied up and being kept under the watch of other monsters, these ones in armor and official looking. He could see two other skeletons standing next to a fish monster with one eye and a cruel scowl, they all looked worried though also like they were trying to hide it. They must be the Sans and Boss that Ink told him about. For them to still be alive was a miracle unto itself.

Glitchy looks around and spots a crevice in the snow. He could leave Ink there and stay hidden till they found him then leave and go about his own merry way. Ink would be safe and his own life could go back to normal. Whatever normal may be.

He quickly puts Ink into the crevice, hiding in the bushes that poke and rip his clothing. He throws a rock over that way, catching the attention of a giant white dog in great armor. Glitchy watches as the dog monster cautiously ambled over and sniffs about. They were soon howling and Ink was surrounded. He stayed as the little monster was awoken, looking confused and slightly scared. He watched as the two older skeletons were suddenly beside him. He looked on as they left, the armored monsters taking the mob monsters with them.

Glitchy turns to leave himself, trying to forget the way Ink had looked about and called out to him. He didn't belong with Ink anyways, just as his name suggests he was a glitch, a mistake, a filthy error. He had no one and nothing, just as it had always been, and will always be.

…

Edge wouldn't let Ink go for anything after they had found him. He marched alongside the prisoners and guards to the dungeons in the kings castle with the shivering skeleton clutched tightly to his chest plate. He dutifully ignored the pain of walking on a broken leg, not like he hasn't done it before, and followed behind Undyne. Their house was compromised, all belongings could be kissed gone because the citizens of Snowdin will have no doubt already pilfered the place. With no protection, they were in need of a place to live. Edge was in hopes that the king would be willing to house them for a few days, he's known to go easy on kids, down right adoring any child that crosses his threshold. It's the adults that the king had problems with.

"Hey, Papyrus." Undyne calls, beckoning him away from the group. With a calculating gaze Edge hands Ink to Red and walks over. Undyne wouldn't kill him without reason, but she sometimes wants to spar at the most inopportune of moments. Edge could not be too careful when with a child. Not that he believes that she would hurt one...on purpose.

"Yes, Captain?" Edge asks when they're far enough away from the others. They were currently in Waterfall, just passing the pathway that would lead to Undyne's house.

"So, you've got a kid." She starts.

Edge elects to remain silent due to that not being a question. He couldn't help but tense up slightly, if Undyne proves to be a threat in anyway, he would get rid of her like Red had been telling him to do for a while now. Screw friendship, especially this messed up one that they have, Ink could not be hurt while under his care, it was bad enough that they lost him for two hours, no need for something worse to happen.

"I have one very important question, Papyrus." She dramatically turns to look at Edge and he relaxes, "Will he call me Aunty Undy?"

Honestly, he was dreading this moment. Now he had to explain how this child was not his and that he was simply watching him for a friend, which will open a whole can of worms that he does not want to get into right now.

"Undyne." He sighs out, shifting his weight off his broken leg, "The kids not mine and -"

"Well, duh the kids not yours." Undyne interrupts with a laugh, "I would have known if you were having a kid whether you were the father or the mother. Ya know, since I don't know how skeletons-"

"Yes, yes. I get it." He loudly says, disgusted by the turn things have taken. He's not shy about this at all, he just has preferences as to who he talks with about this sort of thing. His brother having been the first to help him with those activities and teachings so that Edge could not be taken as a fool.

"Anyway, what I mean is that you have the kid now, and in what little time I've spent with the tiny bones I've grown to like him. He seems like a good kid."

"Yes, he is."

"Ya know ya always got a place to stay at where you only have to worry about one person attacking. And for the city ya got with you, I just might consider letting ya stay with no attacks."

Edge stares at Undyne. This was dangerous territory, the olive branch of friendship being a death sentence for most in this world of kill or be killed. She was really sticker her neck only line by even looking at him nicely, let alone saying such sweet things. However, children were always a weakness of hers. He couldn't let her lose sight of how things worked here, but he needed the place to stay, the king was a little dicey with monsters other than children and largely unknown to Edge, this universe's king, at least.

"What are you running, a charity house? Because if not, then you might wish to be careful of how loudly you talk."

Undyne's face grows extremely grim, she had forgotten for just a second that there were no friends to help, no niceness to go around, not in such obvious ways, at least.

"Of course not!" She replies with anger in her voice though not in her meaning, "Who do you take me for, some pussy mercy giver? I simply want an easy way to keep a very close eye on you and your little bitch brother, nothing more and nothing less. Now start marching your ass to my house or else!"

"Yes ma'am." Edge salutes, turning to head off and get Red so that they could trek to Undyne's house. Hopefully this wouldn't go wrong.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Ink stares out the window of the fish house. He sighs sadly for the umpteenth time and Red looks over worriedly. Edge had been dragged away to give a statement against the attacking monsters so that the king could give 'just' punishment. Nothing about the king was just any more in Red's opinion, not that anyone would ever catch him saying that inside this universe.

"Hey," Red calls out to Ink, gaining his attention, "What's wrong? Ya been staring out the window and sighing since you woke up."

Ink looks back at Red, his eyes drooping in sadness that even his body conveys. He takes one last look out the window before shambling over to Red.

"I can't find him." He whisper.

"Can't find who, Inky?" Red whispers back. He was curious as to what had the little guy down, you'd think he'd be ecstatic to be back with Red and Edge, but nope, he was sad.

"My friend, Glitchy. He saved me."

Red gestures with his hands for Ink to come closer. When he was close enough, Red pulled him into a hug. Edge used to love hugs when he was about Inks age, though he had quickly grown out of the 'phase' Red would still seek one every now and then. With a squeeze he assures that there would be no escape.

"Ink," He began delicately, for this was a delicate situation. There was no making friends in this universe, not for Ink and not for him. Sure, Red believed the whole someone saving Ink thing, but it couldn't have been for anything but gain. Now, how to break it to the little guy… "Ya know I'm happy that you're safe, me and the boss both, but ya gotta understand that we don't know this 'Glitchy' friend of yours. So, next time you see him, come get either me or Boss before anything else. Okay?"

Ink stays silent for several seconds and Red was getting ready to repeat himself when the kid answers.

"He's not from here, though. So do those same rules really apply?"

Ink looks up at Red with sad eyelights; a teardrop in one and a Pentagon outline in the other. He didn't want to treat his new friend like that, especially since Glitchy had done so much without even hesitating.

The sad look didn't even register in Reds brain. He was frozen, trapped inside his thoughts as pieces click in the most unpleasant of ways. A random friend called Glitchy that wasn't from this universe, only one monster (if he could still be considered one) fit that description perfectly. Granted, it wasn't much of a description, and Red couldn't believe that Ink was still alive if he had actually meet the guy. So, maybe he was just over reacting. Yeah, he was tired, it had been a long night for everyone and he needed sleep, this would make better sense in the morning.

"Ya know what, Sweetheart? Let's sleep on it. I know I'm tired."

With hesitant agreement from Ink, they were both cuddling together on the one sofa that Undyne was able to provide. Without much time passing, they were both out in deep sleep.

…

The house was intimidating. It had a fish head, sharp and jagged teeth for a door, means eyes that glares everything into submission, and it breathed. He could hear it, just barely and not with his ears but with his soul, this house was a monster all on it's own, an ancient fish monster that has now dedicated it's life to protecting its descendents. A harsh exterior to protect the cozy interior of safety and warmth.

Getting to the house wasn't challenging, the traps and puzzles each had a life of their own, though not in the monster way, and were easy to navigate through. The hard part was following behind the small group of monsters that made their way to the house and remaining unseen and unheard. But he flowed through the wetlands like he was nothing, leaving behind no trace in the dirt or the air. For all intents and purposes, he was less than a ghost.

Following Ink and his protectors was not part of the plan, Glitchy was simply suppose to leave and forget about the sniveling face that had smiled at him, had given him his first 'thankyou', he wasn't supposed to be stalking the poor younger boy. But plans change, and his changed to behind the scenes protecting.

Inks protectors were both very strong and talented, obviously since they survived that attack, and they do seem to have connections in some high places. However, they were unable to protect Ink against a mob. That is where Glitchy comes in, emergency savings is all he's good for. It's a job he has given himself, but an important one that he will not slack on. He will not sleep, he will not eat, every second he will spend shadowing Ink. After all, it only made sense to protect what was his.

…

Edge couldn't stop looking around the lands, the feeling of being watched itching across his bones stronger than usual. Even Undyne was slightly on edge, but she made no outward appearance of it. Soon, when they entered the hotlands, the feeling subsided. He decided that he should focus on one task at a time and that he did not need the added problem that feeling will most likely cause, not until after he talked to the king. For Edge, a reset couldn't come sooner.

He really didn't want to do this. Stars help him survive.

An: sorry that it's shorter than a thousand, I try. But otherwise, it wouldn't have flown properly. Thanks for sticking this far, but just be warned, I'm not good at finishing any story. So, sorry in advance for giving up on it if I do, which is most likely. I already love any who read this.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The king's palace was huge and dark, intimidating Edge, though he would never say so. Undyne and him walk through to the throne room, the attackers being handled into the prison cells. The king sat in his throne while Undyne and Edge approach, they kneel before him and wait for him to speak.

With a rumbling sigh the king stands. He walks up to the kneeling soldiers and orders them to rise. They do so respectfully.

"Papyrus, was it?" The king says.

"Yes, your highness."

"You are the one attacked in their own home, correct?"

"Yes, your highness."

"And you are part of the royal guard?"

"Second in command, your highness."

The king laughs quietly, "Second in command." He mutters sardonically. "Then tell me, Papyrus, second in command of the royal guard, how your fort was overwhelmed. Aren't you supposed to be strong enough to fight off ten monsters on your own? Is that not what it takes to be in the guard these days?"

"Normally I would be able to, sir, but you see, I had a child in the house and I was distracted by thought of them getting hurt."

The king visibly freezes. "A child, you say?"

"Yes sir."

"And how is this child of yours?"

"Scared but without a mark, sir."

Silence falls over the trio as the king think, his red eyes filled with dustlust as the thought of his own children cross his mind.

"You have no home to stay in, correct?" He slowly says.

"Not one of permanence, no sir."

"We'll then," the king says, facing his throne, "You may stay in an apartment here at New Home while your house is renovated."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now get out before I change my mind."

"Of course, sir." Undyne says and they both hurry out. With the door now shut between them they start to run. Undyne pulls Edge into what seems to be a storage room and they stop to catch their breath. Then Undyne begins to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Edge demands, he just survived seeing the king, not only that, he got a temporary house for his family to stay in. Nothing funny had transpired.

"Yo-you just talked t-to the ki-ing!" Undyne heckles out.

"Yes, so?"

"You actually told him about your kid!"

"Again; so?" Edge felt like he being made a fool of, he did not like that feeling.

"Aw man, Paps." Undyne exhales, a smile still present on her ugly, jagged tooth face. "Nobody ever tells the king about their kid for fear of them being taken into 'protective custody'. Now that the king knows about your little skeleton, the king can order him to be taken anytime, it's why a lot of kids disappear them reappear years later."

Edge narrows his eye sockets and growls. If that damned goat thinks he can go anywhere near Ink, then he has a whole multiverse of hurt coming to him.

"That king better keep his grubby paws off my kid if he knows what's good for him." Edge lowly grumbles out the warning, his eyelights glowing red in the dim room with a dangerous gleam.

"For once, Paps, I agree one hundred percent. Nothing bad ever happens to the kids here, but your skeletons belong to you."

…

Ink startles as a plate of pancakes are set in front of him. He looks up at Red who smiles a toothy grin down at him, his own plate of pancakes drenched in mustard. Ink pulls a face at the sight before a thoughtful look takes over. He quickly swipes one finger across Reds plate and sticks it in his mouth, ignoring the indignant 'What the-' coming from above. The taste of mustard and syrup was indescribable. Ink starts to gag.

"Hey!" Red calls out, offended, "It's not that bad." He mutters defensively, pulling his plate closer to him and taking a huge bite.

Ink shimmies down the couch and away from that horrible contraption that Red called food. He begins to eat his own pancakes, slathered in chocolate chips and extra sugary syrup.

Edge was staring at both of them like they had lost their minds. He was eating regular pancakes with regular syrup like a regular person, thank you very much.

Their first meal in the temporary apartment could have been better than pancakes, but yesterday was spent finding the damn thing and they just had some of that spider bitches sugary treats because they were all so damn tired of all this bullshit, so those don't count.

The mealtime passed quietly, Ink not much of a talker and the brothers having nothing to talk about. The apartment they were staying at for the time being was spare of anything. The walls were grey with yellow trim, horrifically enough, and it had come with no furniture so Edge and Undyne had gone to Snowdin to see what was left, surprisingly enough, everything was still their with a few of the smaller holes actually fixed and tarps covering the bigger ones. Edge didn't question it. He just grew more determined to protect the people of Snowdin as best as he could, which was why his guards were on double duty in looking for that were' and his followers. They are such good dogs, he's going to have to give them something for all their hard work.

That little extension only allowed for them to bring back a couch and Reds mattress, plus some clothes like the pants they've been trying to get Ink into, but each time he would say something about how 'Glitchy didn't wear pants, so why should he?' Edge swore that if he came across this Glitchy, he would force them into pants before dusting them for making this so difficult. After all, Ink used to love layers, so why wouldn't he put the damn pants on!?

That fucking Glitchy.

"Ink," Edge says carefully, "When your done eating, I would like it if you would just try on the pants."

Red was looking at him like he'd gone crazy, all of yesterday was an uphill battle to get Ink into pants, and here he was trying again and expecting different results. Didn't he read somewhere that that was the definition of insane? Oh, well, it hardly matters now.

"You don't have to wear them," Edge say as Ink looks at him like he has suddenly said that this universe was the one with the merciful of monsters, "just try them on to see if you like them. Please." He forces out, Edge could count on one hand the number of times he had said 'please' to anyone. His brother had only gotten that word out of him three times and no one else had managed it even once.

Reluctantly Ink agreed, sullenly going back to his breakfast, barely eating what was left on his plate. Glitchy wore nothing but what looked like a black dress with a blue hood and golden zipper. Why couldn't Ink wear something like that? Sans and Boss just didn't get it, Glitchy was just so cool and heroic and brave and smart… why can't Ink be like him?

The pant were golden with black stains on them and they fit perfectly. They were just long enough for his tiny toes to peek out and the added belt that was colored beise just like his scarf really sold it for him. He loves these pants and never wanted to take them off. They were so colorful and bright and instantly lifted his mood! Maybe he could find a pair like these to have Glitchy wear, because obviously the only reason they aren't wearing any is because they haven't found the right pair.

With this thought in mind, Ink grew determined to find Glitchy a pair of pants that they would love too.

An: so. Pants are a real hassle. As is, say, your room getting flooded after a weekend spent with family and friends. Isn't life great? I also don't think that people get that when I say that I'm a bad writer, I don't mean skill wise. So again, please be warned, I might never finish this and I'll tell you if that so that your not just left hanging for years before an update that simply says 'leaving story'.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

After they got the pants on Ink, neither of them could get the pants off him. It's like they were glued to his legs or something! Which made bath time all the more difficult.

"Ink," Edge finally says, having reached the end of his thin patience just watching Red trying to get the little devil ready for a bath, "if you do not void yourself of all clothing now, I will dunk you into the bath with them on."

Ink stayed stubbornly silent and Edge had to force him into the tub of bubbly water kicking and screaming. You'd think they were torturing him for all the fuss he put up. Their poor neighbors, not that Edge really cared about them with their bureaucratic nonsense.

Red had gotten into the tub with Ink, cleaning as much bones as he could while Edge held him down. Everyone got soaked, bubble invaded everything, and Red almost lost another tooth in the struggle for cleanliness. Edge was going to have to mop up the bathroom after this to clean the surly gallons of water that Ink splashed out in his fit. Especially since they had to keep the damn faucet on to have enough water to clean with in the tub.

What must have been hours has passed by, Ink having screamed himself hoarse with Edge not that far behind him. As if his voice wasn't gravely enough already. Edge would say that Red came out of it the most intact, but really, he was the most waterlogged of them all; water was constantly pouring down his face from his eyes and nostrils, bubbles could be seen behind his eye lights, lighting up the back of his skull in a creepy way as his red eyelights gleam off the bubbles. Bruises would be sure to form over his ribs from how many times they got hit by Inks little elbows, and he could have sworn that one of his teeth felt a bit looser than the others. But maybe that was just in his head, like hell he would go to a doctor to find out, they would tear all his teeth out for the giggles.

Standing, Edge pulls Ink up to his chest grabbing a nearby towel and drying off the almost asleep baby bones. He was not happy with how today went, first Ink refused to touch his food all day, now they had to man handle him into a bath. Not to mention, Edge woke up not feeling well in the first place. Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

"I told ya not to bribe him with sweets before bed." Red grunts out, rubbing his sore ribs.

"I needed to get him to eat his diner somehow, especially since he hadn't eaten anything else."

Edge turns to walk away, not in the mood to fight with his brother. Knowing how he was feeling, things would turn physical and fast, he didn't want to hurt Red after all. At least, when he wasn't angry with him.

Before he could much further, his one step brought light to a new problem in the form of a light squishing sound and the feel of water encasing his foot. Not really wanting to but knowing that he has to, Edge looks down. What met him was three inches of water just calmly standing there without any sense that something was wrong. Ink couldn't have possibly splashed this much about, most of it had gotten on Edge, so the damn tub was broken.

Taking a deep breath, he marches on. He needed to see the extent of the damage.

The entire hallway, small as it was, was flooded as was the only bed room and part of the living room. Edge was beyond pissed. Setting Ink on the still dry sofa then going and fetching his brother who was standing in the tub and looking at the floor with dread, he too got placed on the sofa. Without a single word Edge stormed out of the apartment in the late night, glaring at any who dared even be in his sight and he marched up to the maintenance office and he began to pound on the door. Like hell he was going to clean that shit up!

…

Red stayed on the sofa for about a second after his brother left, then he was moving. He soon had the bucket and mop, trying his best to at least get it out of the living room, because no one was going to come clean up this mess. Edge would be too busy yelling for someone to do it, and the workers would be to busy yelling back that it wasn't business hours, so they didn't have to do shit. That left one lazy skeleton for the job.

He soon realized, however, that this would take hours, and he was too lazy to be doing this for hours. He couldn't even do his job without taking breaks to sell illegal hot dogs. So with a quick flare of magic and the almost silent snap of his fingers, he magiced the water to somewhere else. The inside of the maintenance office to be exact. Hopefully Edge wasn't inside.

That left less than half the water originally there plus the one bucket full at his feet. With a heavy sigh, he takes the bucket and tossed the water outside on the walkway, not caring about what monster has to trudge through his dirty bath water. Red begins the mopping process again, to tired to use magic a second time.

…

Edge's relentless pounding of the door, which would have resulted in it splintering if he had kept going, rewarded him. A sleazy slug opened it, hatred in his eyes as he glares up at Edge who glares right back.

"Our apartments flooded, fix it." Edge demands.

The giant slug just stares. Then the doors shut in Edges face. He takes a second to comprehend what just happened before he's hammering on the door again, this time trying to break it as quickly as possible, if they won't fix his problem, he would give them a problem to fix.

When his fist finally went through, he peered inside for a second and caught sight of something that would have him smiling in private for years; water raining down from nowhere and right on that damn slugs head. There was no doubt in Edges mind that Red had done this, his truly a genius, second to only that of The Great and Terrible Papyrus.

He found himself almost skipping on his way back to the apartment, which scared the idling monsters more than his murderous gaze had.

An; yes, this is based off what happened in real life. The people who work here are actually really nice. I've only heard horror stories of how bad toddlers can get with things.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Edge looks over the peacefully sleeping skeletons on his couch. Usually they would be up by now, but Red deserves some extra sleep for having cleaned the apartment, and Ink looks dead to the world. He must have really tired himself out with that fit last night.

To be honest, Edge was a little tired himself, bit nothing he couldn't power through. So he made breakfast, quickly and quietly, putting Red and Inks in the fridge for when they awoke. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down on it where their food will be and that he was going out to fix the house and salvage things so the snow didn't completely ruin them if it hasn't already.

With those things taken care of, and an extra note added on saying how Red better be down there to help after they ate, Edge was off.

The maintenance office had never looked more beautiful in Edges eyes.

…

Last night had been quite hectic with the shouting match going on. He almost burst through the walls of their temporary home just to see Ink, but he refrained. After all, the cracks in the wall showed a very amusing scene, whatever they were trying to do did not seem to go well with little Inky. Soon, though, they all quieted down.

Glitchy couldn't stop giggling once he realised that Ink wasn't in danger, it was funny, like a show he could understand. He tried to stop laughing because it was hurting his ribs, they were very sore.

This morning had him in a questioning mindset. Why was the tallest skeleton, Boss as Ink had called him, leaving? And without anyone to watch his back. Surely the bigger monster can take care of himself, he walked like he could. But what if he couldn't?

Glitchy suddenly found himself in the same predicament as last night; go after Boss to keep Ink from being down one protector, or stay with Ink where he already has a protector with him? If he stayed here and something happened to Boss, then Ink would be sad, as would his remaining protector. But if he left and something happened… Sans isn't as lazy as he appears.

So with those thoughts running around his head, Glitchy runs after Boss, careful to not be seen or heard as he follows the edgy monster.

…

The only reason Red even opened his eyes this morning was simply because he fell off the couch. He groaned in pain, his head having been the first this to land lead to it pulsing in pain. This was why his mattress was on the fucking floor, no matter how much his brother moaned and groaned and threatened. The floor was nice to him when he wasn't two feet above it.

Opening his eyes and looking up, he sees Inks little head pop over the side, a concerned look in his eyes. The smudge of ink that was always on his cheek had Red amused. He wasn't that hurt from the fall, it didn't even take a point off his low health, so there was no reason to agonize over it, especially with a kid watching. Didn't want the little devil to turn into a dramatic bitch.

So he got up, looking over Ink naked body with fond exasperation, they forgot to dress him.

"Alright ya little devil, time to get dressed." Red says, picking up Ink with ease and looking for his clothes.

He found them all soaking wet. He wasn't washing those, so it seemed Ink would have to do without.

Walking into the tiny kitchen, Ink brought attention to something that had been bugging him. With a cute tug on Reds jacket, Ink looked around before saying, "Where's Boss?" in the tiniest most adorable voice in the entire multiverse.

Red was floored with cuteness overload before the words registered in his brain. Oh God, he called Edge 'Boss', that was the best thing Red had heard in a long time. The last thing having been when Edge said he was going to learn how to meditate. He couldn't control himself then, he can barely do it now.

"Well," Red says, looking around and spotting the note, "Let's see, shall we?"

 _Sans, I'm going to the house to see what can be salvaged before rebuilding. Food is in the fridge._

 _Ps: I better see you down there after you've eaten because I expect you to help._

 _~The Great and Terrible Papyrus_

"Well, fuck." Red mutters in disdain. He didn't want to do more work after last night. He should have just gone back to sleep when he hit the floor.

"Fuck." Ink repeats.

Red chokes on air as laughter rumbles through his chest. He sets Ink down on the counters as he fights to breath. Oh stars above, the entire multiverse was going to kill him.

"Sans," A concerned voice breaks through, "Are you okay?"

"'m fine." Red wheezes out, still unable to breath through his laughter that was turning into a coughing fit.

It had taken several minutes for him to calm down. By that time, Ink had moved on. He had climbed down the counter and opened the fridge, pulling out whatever he could get his hands on. Which was the lasagna that had been made last night. He couldn't reach the forks, so he made do. When Red finally looked up, Ink was covered in cold lasagna and licking his little fingers clean.

"Fuck!" He cries out. Grabbing Ink, he hosts him into the sink, which was half the kitchen, and turns on the faucet. Damn was he out of practice.

…

Edge was almost ecstatic when he walked through his house. Nothing had been touched, someone brought a door (it was a gaudy shade of yellow, but he could repaint easier than he could find a door), and the tarps had kept out most of the snow. Their electricity still worked, as did their water, surprisingly enough, none of the wiring or pipes had been hit. Whatever Red had done to improve the house all those years ago seemed to really be paying off.

He hadn't thought that he had made this much of a difference while in charge of Snowdin for the past few years, but the monsters here really seemed to be coming around. He was truly and deeply touched. A big reward was in order. But only after he fought that damn werewolf and his followers.

With the help of his canine unit, the house was rebuilt. It obviously wouldn't all be done today, probably not even tomorrow, but he felt so much better once it had a door on it, and the burnt kitchen had been redone. He would have to find some flame retardant paint for the kitchen walls.

Overall, it was a good and productive day. Red actually showed up, his face grumpier than usual and Ink swaddled in his jacket, but he got to work with no complaints, redoing whatever wiring needed to be done, which wasn't a lot.

And hidden from all, above in a tree, watched red eyes, as careful as could be. Bird like in stance, and graceful to boot, one little protector stays vigilant and mute.

An: rhyming is not my strong suit. And thanks for the reviews, they make me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Ghaaaaaaaaa! I can't wait till we get to the parts that I really want to get to!

So, Red calls Edge Boss. Edge calls Red Sans. These are the only names that Ink has heard them being called by over the last week or so of them having him, so it makes sense that he calls them Sans and Boss, and that's what he introduces them as to Glitchy. Ink doesn't talk that much, he prefers to doodle or people watch, so Edge doesn't know that he has a second person calling him Boss. Well, and a third.

Damn it Red, you're not supposed to curse in front of children! Their minds are like sponges, especially one to four year olds!

Oh, yeah, Inks about three, but he's retained a lot of his vocabulary. And Glitchy's around five or six.

Sorry for the long author's note. I felt chatty. Again, thanks for the reviews. Oh, and it's not that he hates bath time, he just didn't want the nap time that would come after it because he was hopped up on sugar from Edges bribe. They learned a valuable lesson, one monster candy means hours of hyper Ink.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Heavy breathing echos in the dark chambers. Grunts and growls of work harder, do better are accompanied by the sound of claws raking against stone. Whimpers of pain are layered beneath.

They cry and beg for mercy.

They are silenced.

…

Ink cuddles up to the Greater Dog as everyone else works on the house. They've been at it for three days now, Red had found some wiring that required repair when it hadn't been damage by the attack, that lead to him checking all the wiring in the entire house and declaring that about half of it needed to be replaced. Nobody had been happy about that, especially Red since he was the one who had to do the replacing.

The main problem was Ink. Both skeletons needed to actively work on the house, so neither could watch Ink, who loved to roam around and explore, trying to find this missing 'Glitchy'. He could not be left at the apartment, or trusted with any daycare center, and coming around or not, Edge wouldn't allow Ink anywhere near the citizens of Snowdin. They wouldn't hurt Ink, most monsters in the underground wouldn't dare harm a child, but they might try to take him.

That left the canine unit. Doggy was out patrolling the woods with Lesser Dog, they still had jobs to do. The ones left were Dogamy, Dogaressa, and Greater Dog. Greater Dog was a simple minded mutt and useless for the work they were doing, so he was put on babysitting duty. The damned beast turned out to be great with children.

Anytime Ink wanted to play, it was always tag or tug-o-war, and they never left sight of the house. Ink also loved cuddling into Greater Dogs warm and comfy fur to combat against the cold. Whenever Ink called out for his friend, Great Dog howled right alongside him, actually wanting to see this interesting monster Ink kept telling him about. The entire canine unit would keep a look out for anyone matching Glitchy's description, that had calmed Inks need to find Glitchy just a bit.

Now the two were currently laying against a tree, Greater Dogs armor not that far away in case any trouble arises. It seemed unlikely, all of Snowdin had been staying inside and away from the skeleton home. It really made everyone's lives easier. Not even the teens were in the woods, they had hunkered down in an abandoned building with lots of sugary food and… other things.

Which was why Greater Dog had allowed them to go so far into the woods, with Edges and Reds permission of course. It was very peaceful here, quiet and calm. The snow dancing around them in a light and playful manner, the enchanted light from above shining down and making the snowflakes glow. The two were enraptured with the sight. So caught up in the beauty of their world, they didn't notice the shadows it hid.

With a howling growl, several wolf monster jump at them. Greater Dog was quick to react, jumping into his armor and scooping Ink into one arm, he uses the other to swipe at the offenders with his mighty dog-spear. He howls out for help as they come from all sides. His dog-spear is ripped from his hands by one beast and another finds traction on his back, using the found leverage to bite down on Greater Dogs scruff and pull the Royal Guardsman off balance. He's pushed to the ground, Ink hidden in his hold as he snarls and bite, clawing at any he can get his hands on. Their claws puncture his armor, their teeth sink in and rip off his armor.

One lunges for his throat.

…

Glitchy tackles the wolf going for the kill from his perch high up in a tree. His feet hit the beasts side, breaking their ribs. The others pause at the intrusion of their kill. Glitchy doesn't even wait to see the wolf monster dust, he turns, the feeling of power coursing through his body, and he mercilessly attacks the next monster in his sight.

At his silent lunge to another pack mate, they all snap out of their disbelief and focus their attacks on this new comer. Howling and snarling, sharp teeth snap down, claw rip through the air, and the sounds of snapping bones and ripping flesh echo amongst the snow.

Greater Dog doesn't even hesitate in trying to flee. Yes, he wants to help the one who help him, but with Ink under his protection, the savior would have to wait patiently for some help. So he stands, Ink still tucked into his enormous chest, and he runs toward the house, howling for help. Not even ten feet from the battle and he finds his pack.

He tells them about a small savior and that they should hurry to help him, for he believed it to be this Glitchy friend of Inks. He was ordered to stand guard over Ink and the house, and like a good boy he would, but he whined for them to hurry, for Glitchy was so small.

Once they were out of sight, hidden by the fence forest, Greater Dog headed to the house. He looked down when small hands tugged at his fur to a crying skeleton face.

"I-is Gl-glit-tchy goi-ing to b-be oka-ay?" Ink barely gets out through his heaving sobs.

Greater Dog nuzzles against Inks face with his wet nose, licking up the black tears pouring down the skeletons face. He hadn't known skeletons could cry, and in such an interesting color. However, he doesn't bark a word, for he did not know.

…

The fight was over by the time they got there, nothing but dust and blood and upturned snow to show that anyone had been here. The dogs were quick to sniff about while also collecting up the dust and any evidence they could find. They smelled Greater Dog and Ink and maybe four or five other scents, they couldn't make it out for sure, but they could make a direction that those scents headed.

Following the trail proved difficult. The physical signs looped around on another and they climbed trees and walked over rocks without snow. The scent wasn't much better, their blood gave a lot of it but it didn't take long for the trail to be lost.

When the Dogi report this to their captain, Edge obliterated a tree in frustration. They were ordered to up the patrolling of the woods and to search for those damn followers. The Dogi readily agreed, scampering away to relay their orders to the rest of the pack and to get out of their captains ire.

Red looks over the snowy forest, trying to see if anything was missed, but it wasn't. He could feel a tired rage burning his bones and bubbling up in his soul, with practiced ease he stamps it down, containing it to use at a later date. This was the second time some one else had saved their charge when they couldn't, and this time they didn't have the excuse of being in the middle of an angry horde of monsters. And now it seemed likely that Inks savior was either dusted at the fight, or caught by these werewolf followers. He didn't like either outcome.

"Boss." He lowely whispers, no point in staying out here. "Let's go get Ink and report this to Undyne. See if she can spare a few guards for the search and if Greater Dog can give a better description than 'dark and glitchy'."

His brother takes a moment to respond, but when he does it's with a simple head nod. Red was right, they needed to follow protocol and rationally think about things. The ripping monsters to shreds can wait for when the monsters are in his grasp.

They quietly walk back.

An: did you forget? This is Underfell. Cute and cuddly can't last.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 reboot

They trekked back to Snowdin, unsatisfied with their work and lack of success. Entering the house, they stop to watch Ink pet Greater Dog, still in his armor. They could see the blood in Greater Dogs white coat and each grimaced for their own reason. Today had been productive and counterproductive at the same time; they had gotten the house done, but one of their members got hurt and a child went missing. Not that anyone knew they existed in the first place.

Edge clears his throat, gaining the attention of both monsters. A humming that Edge hadn't even realised was in the air had stopped. Ink looks at Edge with white, plain eyelights.

"Did you find Glitchy?" He asked in a small and hopeful voice before Edge could speak one word.

"No," He forces out before his courage leaves him. Inks face fell, his gaze dropping to the floor. Edge felt his soul drop with it.

"But we will do our best." He finds himself saying. "Every Guard we can spare will be looking for Glitchy."

Edge could feel his brothers gaze on his back. Even small promises were big ones and not to be taken lightly. Red had taught him that from an early age. He was determined that this wouldn't be his first broken promise. Even if it killed him.

…

His skull was pounding. He could barely focus on anything else. Bam. Bam. Bam.

He knew his eyes were opened because with each pulse in his skull it would go from blurry to black then back to blurry. Bam. Bam. Bam.

He didn't even think he was breathing. He tries. Cold air whistles past his golden teeth. His chest rises then contracts with pain. Right, no more breathing. Not like he needed to in the first place. Bam. Bam. Bam.

He could feel the cold stone beneath him. Something seemed off about it. He couldn't tell what. It did feel nice, though, the coldness numbing his wounds. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Where was he?

Bam. Bam. Bam.

…

Waking up blind was completely new to Glitchy. Well, he actually thought he had been blind when he woke up in that white room, so maybe he was just in a really dark room? That would make sense, because he can feel his eyelights moving in his head, however faintly.

Or would it make sense? Is it normal to wake up somewhere totally different than before? Where even was he before?

He couldn't quite remember… it maybe had something to do with… who? White; snow. Or fur? Metal. Sound… a scream… Ink!

He had to find Ink! He had to make sure that he was okay! That he got away, that that monster actually did something good and got Ink away! He had to-

Shit!

Pain laces throughout his body as he tries to sit up. His once fractured ribs were now shatter, some had probably fallen off from the fight (why didn't they kill him?). His left arm was useless, the radius torn in two (some damn mutt had snapped it's jaws around his arm). Moving his only slightly less damaged arm around, he searches blindly for more injuries.

… where was his jacket…?

… … …

SOMEBODY BETTER GIVE HIM HIS JACKET RIGHT NOW, OR THERE WAS GOING TO BE DUST SPILT!

Glitchy could feel the numbing rage consume his very being. His eyelights flare with the boost of energy, lighting up his surroundings in blue-yellow light. He sits up and stands, now able to ignore the painful way his body was telling him to sit the hell down and casting his gaze about.

It looked like a cave and it had dozens of children staring back at him. Each as naked and broken as him.

… what… the… hell…

…

Undyne fights back the scowl on her face. This report from Greater Dog was baffling, to say the least. Another skeleton kid, one of the rarest species of monsters, just there to save the day. Either this kid lived in the forest and nobody noticed a thing, or this kid had been tailing Papyrus's new brat, and nobody had noticed a thing.

Each as implausible as the next. It hurt her head just thinking about what the kid would have done to remain hidden from all till now. This Glitchy kid sounded like he was older than Ink too. What was happening to have kids popping out left and right, usually they, unfortunately, went missing in the underground. Now this? Two in just two weeks? Undyne could begin to fathom what was becoming of the underground.

That's what they have Royal Scientists for.

Maybe she should go pay a visit? It had been a while since she last checked to make sure that Alfys was doing her actual job and not whatever experiment she wanted.

Yeah, a visit was overdue in Undyne's books. Er, Alfys books, since Undyne doesn't have anything other than tactical books. Alfys probably had a sign in book somewhere in that mess of a lab….

It was decided! Undyne slams her hand into her desk and breaking in one fell swoop with her new found determination. She would order Alfys to find a sign in book! Yeah!

She got up to leave, ready to run on over there and pummel Alfys into submission about finding that book, when her brain says 'Wait. Weren't we doing something else? Something important?'

With a confused and annoyed huff, Undyne looks around. Amongst the scattered papers from her now ruined desk, one caught her eye. Greater Dog's statement. She picks it up and tucks it into her pocket neatly, determined not to forget it's existence while visiting the doctor.

She had some questions. She had some concerns. She had two fist ready to get any answer they could from their future victim.

She had to see this through. For Papyrus's sake. For the brave and selfless kid called Glitchy. If she found one scratch on that skeletons frame… those beast better start praying.

An: just barely reached a thousand. I actually can't wait till Blueberry comes into play, even Underfell Asgore would be terrified by his protective mode.

Oh, and this is the reboot chapter because the original was horrible. It was like a third grader wrote it minus the horrible spelling, redundant words and grammar errors.

I'm thinking of posting another story of just tossed shit. The title 'Tossed Shit' appeals to me. I don't know how good that would be...


	13. Chapter 13

An: the start of my first chapter was so dramatic.

Chapter Thirteen

They stare at him with uncomfortable gazes that crawl over his bones. They could see the mismatched colors, the scars of old from forgotten battles, and the wounds of new from the battle that must have just happened. Glitchy was still bleeding, after all, and he could heal quiet fast.

Worst of all, though, was that he couldn't truly see them. He didn't have his glasses so every pair of eyes gleaming back the light he gave off just blurred together. Slit pupil, double pupil, green pupil, no pupil. They all stare at him.

He doesn't feel so well.

Puke forces it's way past his resisting teeth, it's magical glow giving off more light, however small, of blue. His bones shake from the force, weak knees unable to keep him standing. The pain is shoved to the forefront of his mind, consuming his every thought as his body heaves again, spilling more magic across the stone floor. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, and he couldn't breath. His thoughts were jumbled and body no longer under his control.

That was the only reason that the person who dared lay hands on him wasn't viciously ripped apart. He barely registered the soothing gestures through the absolutes terror slamming into his body. He didn't want to be touched. They need to stop. Why won't they stop? Just stop already!

The hands leave his shuddering body and he collapses in relief. It doesn't register that he had landed in his own filth. Nothing crosses him mind as he goes back to sweet, known nothingness.

…

Edge glares at a tree, having singled it out for no other reason than it was there. He was in a bad mood.

It had been a full day of scouring over Snowdin's snowy forest and with no luck. Things weren't going any better at home, either. Red had stayed to finish the house yesterday and had three hours of work done in half an hour. Edge didn't even care to question how, he just focussed on the troops.

No one was useful in the whole lot, Edge included. Yesterday had been a bust, nothing had been found that they didn't already know. Those damn werewolf followers had disappeared. AGAIN!

They couldn't afford to wait till the next attack, or for one of the prisoners to break. No, they needed the location on Glitchy three days ago when they first saved Ink! How could he repay such a debt if he couldn't find the kid?

So the poor tree got his rage filled stare directed at it. If the thing knew what was good for it, it would burst into flames.

The tree burst into flames.

Edge quickly hid his surprise and turned to see Grillby and his brother standing behind him. What they were doing there, he had no idea. Was he about to find out? Yes, even if it meant a night in the torture room for his brother. From the cheeky grin he could tell that Red had convinced Grillby to shoot that ball of fire. How Red had any hold over Grillby was a mystery that was not about to be solved. But it had gotten them free food during a dry spell in the underground so Edge quit trying to solve it himself. His brother knew what he was doing most of the time.

"Ya looked like ya wanted the tree to explode, Boss."

"What are you doing here?" Edge questions instead of dignifying that with a response.

Grillby steps forward. "There are hidden caves… under ice and snow… all over… Snowdin forest. They could be using those caves… with fire magic to melt opening… and ice to create a new door…"

"Yep, and Grills here knows where most of them are located. Now, I hope you understand that their locations aren't going to be free, nor how many there are. It's not cheap either." Red looks up at Edge with a no bullshit face. It really wasn't cheap, then.

"What's your price?"

"Ten million G."

… did he hear correctly?

"That's absurd. The Royal Guard doesn't even have that much money." Edge say, then he thinks. It would be so much faster in finding Glitchy and taking down the followers, but would the king go for ten mill? "We'll give you one million for the locations of all caves you know the whereabouts to. That's all I can promise with certainty."

Nobody spoke or moved. The wind didn't even flutter by. Grillby was not a monster to mess with, and Edge had just fucked with him. A whole tenth of what Grillby wanted, but it was truly the most Edge could get him without the king digging deep into this case. Nobody wants that.

"... okay…" Grillby says. Edge waits for more, but he just turns and leaves with the parting words, "I'll get my map…"

An awkward silence falls over the skeleton brothers. Both unsure how to voice their current thoughts.

"So-"

"Where's Ink?" Edge demands, cutting off Reds words.

"Sleeping in the back of Grillby's bar. Let me tell ya, he was bone tired by the time I even thought to ask Grillby for help."

Edges glare resumes it's position on his face, this time landing on his accursed brother. Those damn puns were going to be the death of all of them. Maybe Grillby would come back and be convinced by Edges mighty stare to make Red burst into flames.

With a nervous chuckle, Red skidaddles to Grillbys, taking a shortcut and appearing next to the still sleeping Ink. He loved messing with his brother but damn does that look scare him a bit. It wasn't as bad as being on the wrong end of a Sans serious face, but it's the simple fact that it's his brother looking at him like that that makes Red want to run. Which he does often when it concerns his brother glaring at him.

He gave a huge sigh and sinks onto the couch by Ink. The little devil had the right idea with taking a nap in the middle of the day, Red could get down with that, had in the past, the recent past. Soon, however, Grillby entered, ruining his nap time by dumping a marked up map on his lap.

"I hope a million isn't all I get from this, Sans." Grillby crackles out in his native tongue before leaving to reopen the bar.

An:I love how I call him Glitchy in the An too, like we don't know who he is. But Glitchy is all he's called in the story, so that's all he's called here.

Forgive me, it's almost 4am. WHY DO I WRITE SO DAMN LATE?!

Edit: I made a few changes to make the story better, mainly what little spelling and grammar errors there were. Like, sound is now the wounds it was ment to be.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

He couldn't help but wonder how all these children got here. Toddlers and teens and every age between stand before him, watching him just as he watched them. There had to be at least twenty other children, most different monsters, though some looked similar to others. They hadn't tried approaching him since he had awoken, which he appreciated, but it was slightly unnerving to have so many eyes on him. He couldn't remember being the center of attention before.

After a bit, an older monster around the age fifteen steps up and addresses Glitchy.

"Hey, newbie." He says with a crooked grin and careful voice, obviously trying to come off as friendly. "What's yer name?" His voice comes out scratchy and rough instead, having not been used that often. His gangly arms were held up in a peaceful manner; all six of them.

"Glitchy…" He whispers out, his own voice hoarse and glitching. The sound of it causes him to flinch. Nobody wanted to hear the disaster he was stuck with. But he had to communicate somehow, especially in a place like this. They could have the answers as to how he got here, or even where here was.

"Cool name. I'm Harrit. Is it cool if I come closer?"

Glitchy regards him with a cool stare. Everything was blurry without his glasses but Glitchy could make out the major details. A spider monster as naked as Glitchy himself with his exoskeleton slightly cracked and covered in bruises. The fuzz that was suppose to cover the majority of a spider's body was gone, having been rubbed off one way or another. There wasn't enough light to tell this monsters color, Glitchy's puke still being the only light to see by, but he could tell that it was dull from lack of sunlight, artificial as it is.

"Okay." He answers carefully. Even with major breaks, Glitchy was confident that he could fight long enough to get away. If there was a place to run too in these dark caves. He didn't feel that he had to, though.

Slowly Harrit walks up to Glitchy. The taller spider bends down, now slightly shorter than Glitchy's standing form. He reached out with one of his six arms and it started to glow green. It was faint, the only reason they were able to see it being how dark the cave was, but it was unmistakably healing magic. Glitchy looks into his eyes as Harrit stops halfway. A silent conversation seems to pass between the two.

Hesitantly Glitchy moves his broken arm the rest of the way, carefully laying it into the spiders palm. He could recognise when he needed help, even if his body and mind were both screaming at him not to receive it. The magic is faint, barely noticeable even with Glitchy honing in on it. Harrit brought up each of his hands, placing them around the break. They each glow faintly of healing magic, working together in healing Glitchy's arm.

Slowly the break mended over. Glitchy watches as the magic flows inside him. He could feel the foreign power coursing it's way through his marrow. But he wasn't alarmed, he knew it wouldn't hurt him and it felt so nice and calming.

"There you go." Harrit says not too long later, releasing Glitchy's arm.

He looks it over, inspecting Harrit's job, and it was a job well done. Glitchy was surprised to see barely a scratch left on his entire radius, and his ulna looked better two, less dull and banged up, and more like bone.

"Would you like me to do the rest?" Harrit asked

For all that the healing had felt nice and had done Glitchy some good, he could feel static clawing its way into his mind and threatening to over take him if he touched for even a second more. Plus, Harrit looked even more tired than before the healing. He shakes his head no, and backs away. Harrit looks disappointed, but Glitchy didn't care, he had things to do that required him not to be here.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"The caves." Harrit answers.

'Very helpful.' Glitchy can't help but think, giving Harrit an unimpressed stare.

"I wish I could tell you more," Harrit answers at his gaze, "but we too were taken with no recollection of how we got wherever here is. If we knew where the exit was from the dozens of tunnels then we would have left. We don't want to be here anymore than you do."

Glitchy growls to himself, glaring around the stone walls. There was only one opening, but it didn't take a genius to know that paths split, and Harrit just said that there was dozens of these splits. It would be suicide to try and wander out. So he pushes aside his irritation and forces himself to wait. Those monsters obviously visited, he would just seek an opportunity then and hope that the monsters looking over Ink weren't completely incompetent without him.

…

Edge enters another cave marked down on the map that Grillby had given them, Undyne not far behind him. All other caves had been a bust, no one had found anything remotely close to evidence that people were still using these tunnels, and this was time consuming, each cave deep and long and easy to get lost in. However, Edge was loath to give up on his quest to stop the attacks on his town. The werewolf followers had to be taken down and Edge had to find the skeleton child that had saved Ink. Payments must be payed where they were due.

Upon entering this new cave, nothing seemed admiss, but as they headed further down, Edge began to hear voices. He creeps forward into a room with three entrances and regards them. Undyne gesture the to the middle one, having heard the sounds too.

Cautiously they enter the tunnel. Their steps stealthy, unheard by anyone's senses as the two step further down the path. It leads to a cliff that looks down on another two tunnels opposite them with several tunnels beneath them and a couple to the sides. They easily scale down the side, clunky armor not making a single sound against the rock face, leaving behind a rope for an easy climb up and to remember which tunnel led out.

Standing between the two tunnels, they listen intently to the whisper, now unclear voices of adult monsters. They attempt to make out any words but couldn't past the howls and growls of agitated monsters. They enter the left tunnel, ready for a fight as they come upon a scene that makes their blood boil and a lust for dust crawl through their body.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Waiting was fun and all, he enjoys just sitting to himself, but the other children imprisoned with him were curious about him. Harrit was barely able to keep them from touching him, but they wouldn't stop asking question after question. However, Glithey humored them, finding himself unable to be mad at any of the faces looking at him.

"What's it like out there?" one of the five little rabbits asked, this one's name being Jackie with his Mohawk like hair and one green one blue eye color making him easy to remember from the others.

"Well," Glitchy begins, trying to sum up his almost month long life span, "It's cold just beyond these wall with a small town named Snowdin not far. The monsters that live there aren't nice, they tend to use others to benefit themselves. Then there's the gang of teens, but they're more dickish than anything else, not much to worry about when you show them who's stronger." He gives a shrug for everything else, it was unlikely that they would make it out of here, and even then, unlikely that they would ever leave the snowy parts of the underground, used to cold climate as they were. Plus, that was most of what he knew. Sure, there was more that he had looked at and seen, but not that he had experienced like with Snowdin.

"Do you have anyone you care about?" a young girl asks, yet another bunny monster, the only girl of the bunny monsters, Janite. She is the twin sister to Jack but doesn't have that many distinguishing features like her brother does.

"I think so… it's kinda complicated." Glitchy scratches his head in thought, his fingers catching slightly on the cracks in his skull and making many of the older monsters flinch. "His name is Ink. He's another skeletal monester like me, but white and normal looking. He's smaller than me and wears a scarf."

"Do you like him?" Another little girl asks, some monster with a rocky shell named May. Many of the other girls start to giggle, and even a few of the boys.

"Like him?"

"Yeah, like, do you wanna kiss him?" May says.

"Sweep him off his feet?" Another says.

"Maybe even f-" one of the oldest girls say before Harrit interrupts.

"They're basically asking if you see him as a mate." Harrit then goes to whisper, "What the hell do you think you're doing Lilly, he's no older than ten?!"

Which Glitchy did not get at all. What does his supposed age have to do with anything?

"No, I don't see him as a mate. He's more like a brother."

Many thoughtful hums are given out at this news. Before any more questions could be asked, though, many wolves poured out of the tunnel, snarls raising as they herded the children to the walls and left a path open that leads straight to Glitchy. Another wolf enters, but this one stands on his two hind legs and his muzzle sports a cruel grin that matched his wicked red eyes. Those eyes roved over the other children before landing on Glitchy.

The small skeleton straightens under the insane gaze. He sent a challenge of his own, curling his fist and looking straight into those nightmare inducing eyes. He shifts his stance, widening his feet and slightly bending his knees to better move. This wolf was looking for a fight, and so was Glitchy.

They both regard each other, the werewolf trotting forward with a carefree gate, as if he knew something Glitchy did not. Which he probably did, but the small skeleton would not let that intimidate him. He would not let anything intimidate him.

The werewolf stops two feet from Glitchy, bending down to look closer at him, but still remaining fairly larger than Glitchy himself.

"So this is the lil' skele' that my boys caught." The werewolf says with a deep and rumbling voice. A snickering laugh taped on at the end.

"And this is the dumbass fuck kidnapping children like a loser." Glitchy growls back. "Why don't you grow a pair, and let us go."

Gasps echo throughout the room and the werewolf growls, standing back up in rage.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" He roars. The children and followers cower at the display.

"How dare you commit such a transgression against children!" Glitchy yells back. He was justified in his anger, children should be cherished and protected, not holed up and treated like slaves. This wolf was just a coward.

He grabs Glitchy, his long claws digging between the skeletons ribs and hooking around his sternum, pulling him up to his hideous wolf face. Glitchy gasp, more pain radiating through his tiny body from the abuse on his broken ribs. He grabs the wolf's hand and kicks his feet, trying to relieve the pressure any way possible. The werewolf's awful breath washes over Glitchy's senses and he forces himself not to gags at the stench of decay and rot.

"Such a smartass that my boys have brought in. Don't think we haven't dealt with brats like you before." He says, flexing his hand to further force the ribs under more duress.

They creak and groan and Glitchy clenches his teeth, trying to work past the pain. His feet now hang limp as he focuses on keeping his weight up with his arms. Finally the werewolf releases him by throwing him into the walls. His head bounces off with a sickening crack, deepening the wounds already there. Glitchy lands on his front, unable to think past the static that had taken over.

The werewolf sneers down at the child, moving his leg over to step on a skeletal arm and crushing it. Glitchy whimpers and twitches away, unable to get far before that same foot was crashing down on his back.

The followers howl encouragement to their leader. Yipping and yapping with excitement as several children sob.

The breaking of bone echoes on the cave walls, louder than the voices that drive forward Glitchy's punishment.

His vision goes black as his ribcage collapses. His hearing goes in and out as he tries to find his way past the pain.

But he couldn't. Pain consumes his every thought as he's dragged under the relieving force of unconsciousness.

…

At the snap of Glitchy's ribcage, Harrit couldn't stand by and watch anymore. With a shove, he breaks past the line of distracted followers and runs straight for the werewolves back, jumping on it before anyone could react. Strings of spider webbing are pulled from his wrist and looped around the giants neck. A set of hand hold the strong webs, another holds onto the hair of the werewolves back, his feet planted for support. His last pair of hand are home to sharpened claws that dig and twist into the muscle of the beasts back.

Harrit's vision was red with rage. He couldn't deal with these people mistreating his family, and one that had just met them yet stood up and defended them. He would not allow for this to be their lives, living in fear of someone else and being forced to harvest these 'crystals' day after day. No body deserved their life, certainly not them.

But no matter the heroic intent or justified rage, an untrained child was no match for a beast of a monster. So it came as no surprise when he was ripped off and tossed aside. Howls of pain coming from his victim allows for a smile to adorn his face. He would die most certainly, but he would be remembered. Scars last for a long time.

Harrit forces himself to stand as the werewolf steps towards him. He hugs his left side close, the exoskeleton having been shattered and exposing his weak innards. The werewolf reaches towards him and he doesn't flinch as he waits for the claws to scrap across his face and end him.

Instead, red bones protrude from his arm and the werewolf rears back. At the entrance stands two monsters that the children had never seen before; another skeleton, but this one tall and white with red glowing eyes that matched his bloodstained scarf and boots, and a scary suit of armor with a red ponytail.

The werewolf screams for their dust and the followers attack.


	16. Chapter 16

An: so sorry for the wait, but I can't do fight scenes. And I don't have that much of a plot lined out, so… I've got to think of what to do.

Chapter Sixteen

Half the charging monsters souls turn green, stopping them in their tracks as spears rain down on them from above, Undyne a cackling mess as they panic before her. The other half are met with sharpened bone constructs slicing through their bodies, their blood flowing from the wounds. Sounds of pain and pierced flesh echoes through the cave as the two guards fight viciously against the followers. No mercy would be given.

The children are smart enough to remain back, the little ones held against the wall as the bigger one stand between them and the fight.

Harrit scurries his way alongside a wall, keeping close as he hurries over to Glitchy's prone body. He flexes his left arms, the exoskeleton having been healed enough to allow movement. As he reaches Glitchy, he doesn't stop, only slowing down enough to pick him up. He continues running toward the other children when a clawed hand clamps down the back of his neck, pulling him off of the ground. His clawed hands reach up and hook on it, trying to pry it off as his legs kick out and his other arms press Glitchy closer, trying to keep him safe.

"You little fucks! This is your fault, and you will pay." The werewolf growls out, his other hand clawing down Harrit's body. He cries out and struggles hard, doing his best to keep the claws away from Glitchy's broken body.

Harrit closes his mouth, doing his best to gather the poison from under his tongue. He spits it out and it lands in the wolves eyes, burning like acid as it blinds him. Harrit is dropped as the werewolf howls in pain. His hand lands on a stalagmight that had been broken off. He picks up the rock weapon and charges the wolf, using all his might in stabbing it through the wolves chest. The soul shatters and Harrit feels a rush in his body as his LOVE increases from 1lv to 3lv. He drops the weapon in the pile of dust, his first kill.

His world narrows down to that single pile of dust. He couldn't hear anything past his rushing blood, and couldn't see anything other than the dust. He doesn't notice as his back hits the walls and his legs give out, forcing him to slide down till he's sitting. He doesn't notice as he grips Glitchy tighter, making the bone creak in protest and Glitchy wheeze. He doesn't notice as the battle is finished, the saviors victorious. He doesn't notice the children trying to talk to him, asking if he's alright, or the grownups that were slowly walking toward him and asking the same thing. He didn't even notice the tears streaming down his face till a tiny, boney hand wipes them away.

He looks down at the worried face of his new brother. Why was Glitchy worried when he was the one with the shattered body.

"Are you alright, Harrit?" Came the tiny, ever changing voice.

"No." He whispers back, curling around Glitchy with a sob, "b-but your hu-hurt more."

And he pushes aside his LOVE and puts as much love as he could into his healing, hoping with everything he had that it would be enough to fix Glitchy, but knowing that it never would be.

…

Edge and Undyne decide to leave the crying spider alone for now, going to check on the other children, they knew how hard it was on monsters, that first kill, the one that changed everything. So they introduced themselves to the children, asking if anyone was hurt, and if they would like to leave.

They were all hesitant in talking back, many finding it easier to press up against the wall in a weak bid for escape. But one steps forward, the oldest bunny, a boy with grey and black fur that had scars littered all across him.

"Do you know the way out?" He asks.

"Sure do, punk." Undyne answers with a smile, pointing back to where they had entered, "If you wanna follow us, we can lead you guys out of here and get you a place to stay for a bit. How does that sound?"

"A place to stay like this?" He asks with narrowed eyes, hackles raising as his muscles tense up.

"Wha-? Stars no!" Undyne exclaims in shock. "We're the good guys. We just wanna help."

The bunny gives a nod, deciding that they could make a run for it when they got outside.

"Okay, but what about Harrit?"

"Papyrus will help him. Right Papyrus?" Undyne turns and looks at her second in command, who had been strangely quiet to find him on his phone, texting someone. "Papyrus!"

"Yes, yes. I'm simply texting my brother and telling him to bring lots of clothes and blankets, don't want them freezing." Edge off handedly mutters, slowly turning and walking to the crying spider monster as Red texts back an affirmative. He tucks away his phone and stands before Harrit, seeing a passed out skeleton in the monsters arms, but not just any skeleton; Error, the God of destruction and the most hated being in the entire multiverse.

However, before he could do anything stupid, Edge notices the concave ribs and fresh wounds that Harrit was trying to heal. He decides to wait before doing anything harsh, like ripping apart Error, because if his condition as a child was anything like Inks, then he wouldn't remember a thing, but Edge would have to check to be sure.

"Harrit." He says, causing the monster to jump a small bit. "We are leaving now."

Harrit looks up at the tall skeleton, a sad look on his face. "C-can you fix him?" He asks quietly.

Edge doesn't really want to say that he can only for him to try and kill Error if it turns out that he remembers. But he couldn't see anything other than a hurt child holding a broken child that couldn't be anyone else but the Glitchy they were looking for. So he finds himself wholeheartedly saying, "We will do our best." And he would make sure that they would.

…

The trek out of the caves was slow but without casualty. At the cave entrance stands Red and Grillby, watching a playing Ink with a mountain of clothes behind them. Edge stares for a second, mentally congratulating his brother for bringing a heat source, but wondering why he had to bring clothing for a million monsters.

"Heya, Boss!" Red calls out, waving him over and not even blinking at the dozens of children surrounding him.

Grillby was quick to scoop up clothing and approach with kind crackles, handing the clothing out to the naked children. They were soon surrounding him, soaking in his warmth and raiding the clothing pile. The bunny boy from earlier was quick to give Harrit the biggest blanket of the lot.

The two skelebros distance themselves from the happy children, watching as Ink runs up and introduces himself to them all.

"So, where's Glitchy at?" Red asks.

"Glitchy," Edge begins, wondering how he would tell his brother about Error. He decides that it would be best to do so in private, away from witnesses. "He is being held by that spider monster and is extremely hurt. I told him that we would do our best for E-Glitchy."

"Oh, well, yeah, of course. And where are the children staying?"

Edge observes the monsters, watching as Harrit kneels to include Ink in the blanket swaddle, and how Undyne intimidated them on accident, and how Grillby now had ten of them climbing him like a jungle gym. Everyone had a weakness for children, after all.

"Grillby has a lot of room, doesn't he?" Edge muses.

"Ah, Boss, fuck me. Ya can't be serious." Red exclaims, his perfect 'please, no' face in place.

"And why not?" Edge questions, Grillby obviously likes the children, and with the weird dynamic he has with his brother it shouldn't be that much of a problem to house them for a few days.

Red sighs, his body slumping down in defeat. That amazing ass blowjob he was planning to give Grillby just turned into a full on fuck fest. Stars damn it all.

An: man, this entire chapter feels off to me. Hope it's not too bad. And if you notice any misspelling, please let me know so I can fix it. Much obliged.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Undyne surveys the children eating in Grillby's living room behind the bar. Twenty-two children, each having been reported missing, some years ago, other just months ago, and each malnourished and beaten. The ages ranged from toddlers to mid teens, the leader, if there even was one, could be said to be Harrit the spider with the close second being the oldest bunny boy, Jerrold. Honestly, Undyne saw them working in more of a democracy fashion with the older children taking care of the younger with no discretion. She was impressed by how well they hold and work together. In her opinion, the entire underground could learn how to get along from them.

"What are we to do with them?" Edge asks quietly, startling her.

"I don't know." She answers truthfully. She really didn't, would they even be alright to release back in the underground with their families, to be separated from one another. She didn't think so.

"We can't separate them." And apparently, another did Edge. "They're family, they would fight to stay together with their be found freedom."

"Yeah." Undyne agrees, "It would be like trying to separate you and Sans. Dust would fly everywhere."

It was well known throughout the entire underground that you don't mess with either of the skeleton boys, because if you mess with one, you get the other.

Edge doesn't even try to deny Undyne's comparison, it right, after all. The underground would be gone, if someone tried that.

"I say we haul them up to the castle, see if the king would care for these children, get them some better healers for those wounds. Maybe see if that skeleton Harrit is carrying will even wake up."

"Oh, he'll wake up." Edge assures. He's seen Error come back from worse, he'll come back for this.

...hopefully…

…

Red stumbles out of the bedroom in the late night, early morning part of the night with less clothes than he had stumbled in there with. His limbs were like jelly and his head was fuzzy from his resent orgasm. Grillby really knows what he's doing. That was both good and bad for Red.

Good because Red has the best goddamn time of his life every time they do this, and it's usually so Red can get something, like his monthly payment for food and alcohol.

Bad because he can't think straight afterwards and he's caked in dried lava. That fucker never bothers to let Red get clean before he's thrown out to fend on his own. Or even put on his own damn clothes. So, really, that piece of shit can suffice in fucking himself instead of Red.

Which is him being a bit dramatic, he still has his socks on, but when you're kicked out of bed with barely anything on into a living room full of sleeping children, you'll feel like being dramatic too.

Thankfully, all Red had to do was think of home, and kick back and relax. His head hits his pillow the exact moment the rest of his body hits his mattress and it was heavenly. He was out before he could even begin to think about how he needed to clean off his bones. That could come when he could think again.

Hehe, 'come'.

…

Waking up with a sore body and a headache was an unfortunate norm for Red. Usually the sore body was from some fight or training, but knowing that this time it was from sex made the soreness welcomed. It felt nice and refreshing, each movement making Red feel not only alive, but appreciated too. It was a nice, simi-rare occasion.

The headache was less welcomed. It pounds on his skull, screaming at him to get up.

Bang. Bang. Bang. "Get the fuck up, Sans!"

His headache sounds a bit like the boss now that he thinks about it…

"I swear if you're not down-stairs in thirty seconds, I'm busting down you're door again!"

Red's eyes pop open and he jumps off his mattress, scrambling to gather any clothes. The last time Edge had busted down his door he had also been forced to nurse a busted rib. It's best not to keep his brother waiting.

So he tosses on some black bell bottoms he found in the back of his closet and a red tank top with a black bedazzled skull in the middle. It's all he had left after he gave everything to the kids, not including his jacket. Ink had stolen that about two days ago. He was so cute in it that Red couldn't bring himself to get it back.

He shortcuts his way into the kitchen, managing to manifest beside Ink, who was holding his plate out for seconds. The startled baby bones drops his plate as he gives a little squeak of fear. Red manages to grab it before it hits the ground, breathing a sigh of relief at having avoided a disaster. Edge loves his glass plates. Sure, they were pretty, but Red didn't get why he loved them so much. Not that the why matters, just that if a single plate breaks that's not of Edges own doing, Reds to blame. He does not like being blamed.

"Nice catch, Sans." Edge says coolly, regarding his brother with an unimpressed stare, the spatula somehow making it even more menacing. "But you're still in a bit of a sticky situation. I suggest you get that sorted out. How many pancakes do you want, Ink?" Edge reaches for another plate, quick to load it with whatever Ink's little heart desires, pancakes and bacon now a favorite of the skeleton household.

Red looks down at his hand, chuckling a bit at his brothers pun. His claws were now coated with a thick dark syrup. He sets the plate on the counter and gets to work licking the yummy goo off. He focuses on one finger at a time, sucking on his first finger to get rid of the majority, using his red tongue to clean out the joints, repeating that process for each finger. Then he licks the syrup out from between his metacarpals and carpals.

When he's finished, he grabs the plate, careful not to get anymore syrup on his hands, and dishes himself some food. He grabs three pancakes and a handful of bacon, rubbing the grease off on his pants. Opening the fridge, he pours a copious amount of mustard on everything before heading out to the living room, taking the bottle to drink. He's greeted with two identical looks of disgust as he sits down and he simply grins in response, eating his meal like it was the best thing in the whole underground.

A few moments of silence pass by as the three eat. Red smiling at how his jacket engulfs Inks tiny frame. It was nice, this homey atmosphere. Which was why Red had to open his big mouth.

He pick up a slice of his bacon and lamates.

"Ya know," He begins, a serious look on his face and in his tone that catches the attention of both Ink and Edge. "I just don't get bacon. It's so fucken' complicated. I mean, why is it that you cook bacon, but bake cookies?"

Silence encased the room.

"Sans." Edge whispers slowly as Ink starts to giggle, "I will rip your head from your fucking neck."

"Aw, come on boss, it's a legitimate question."

"NO IT'S FUCKING NOT, SANS!" Edge yells, throwing the object in his hands at his brothers skull.

Red tosses up his arms, ducking down as he laughs. The glass plate shatters on impact with his bones, causing him to yelp as his health goes down .1 Hp. That's a definite cut on his arm. Thank goodness Ink is too busy laughing in Reds jacket to see what happened.

Edge stomps of to the bathroom under their stairs, grabbing a first aid kit and stomping back to moodily wrap Reds wound. Usually he would have the padding of his coat to protect against such attacks, but Edge had forgotten that Ink currently wears it. Until Red can get his armor back, Edge will have to be more careful of what he throws at his brother.

An: some family bonding time to tide over the darkness we just came from.

And yes, the tank top is for females, think of something from hot topic. It's blood red, a bit past his hips to the middle of his pelvis, is tight fitting, which is why he has it and not Edge, and does show some ribs and his collar bones. The skull is black and bedazzled with black stones and black glitter surrounds it in swooping patterns. It fits beautifully with his red, black spiked collar (and matching leash). And the bell bottoms are black because Edge soaked their neon pink form (they are also for females) in black dye for a few weeks before giving them to Red on his birthday a few years ago.

And Ink stole Reds jacket the day before they found the kids. It drags on the floor and absolutely engulfs Inks entire body, the floof being higher than Inks own head and his hands unfindable.

Also, sorry for your luck Deadlyhuggles, it seems like you had a bit of a bad time. ;)


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

By the time they left the house the sky was still dark. Ink sits atop Boss's shoulders, excitedly drumming his little hands on his rides skull, grinning with galaxies in his sockets. He hadn't been allowed anywhere near Glitchy yesterday on account of all the new monsters and him being protected due to injuries. Ink really didn't want to think about Glitchy being hurt, but he has this really strong feeling that he should be helping Glitchy patch his wounds some way. He doesn't know what way that is, so he's decided to leave it to the adults, they know so much more than him, even if they are weird in how they express their knowledge. Ink thinks they should be more artsy about it. Using colors other than red and black could never hurt.

Ink looks around at the gloomy buildings they pass on their way to Grillby's. Dark and run down, windows boarded and barred, doors either reinforced or ripped off the hinges, eyes glowing from the house's shadows. Ink scratches the top of Boss's head, trying not to demand colors to fix this place. It's not his place to fix it.

A few minutes of stomping through the snow brings the trio of skeletons to Grillby's door. Grillby's was the only place that didn't have any patch work, nobody dares to make an uproar here with this being the only safe haven the underground has to offer. They step through the door to be greeted with children, big and small, laying around and eating food. Ink bounces on top of Boss's shoulders, turning his head this way and that way as he tries to catch even a smidgen of a glimpse of Glitchy, but he couldn't see his friend anywhere. He squirms, trying to find a way to get off Boss so he can go look for Glitchy. With a grunt of annoyance, Boss picks Ink off his shoulders, quickly handing the struggling kid to his older brother. Red only tries to hold onto Ink for a second before giving up and setting him on the ground, resigning himself to simply chasing after the little mongrel as he runs around the bar.

The other children don't seem to mind much as Ink runs around, popping into their conversations and just as quickly popping out. They do keep their eyes on Red, watching as he lumbers after the little skeleton. He doesn't get too close to the children, content to just let Ink do Ink. Then the little guy slips past the fire ext, which has been temporarily taken down so no child accidentally hurts themself. While Red would have followed, the blockage of glaring children stops him from doing so. Causing a scene was not something Red wished to do, beside, these kids gave him a feeling g that Ink is the safest he's ever been in this universe.

Ink dashes through the doorway. A whole new room greets him. The backroom Ink finds himself in is made from the same dark wood as the bar, every surface glistening in fireproof magic to keep the room from burning down at Grillby's touch. Paintings of the surface line the walls, showcasing sunsets and valleys and rivers from all over the world. There is a picture of a family of fire elementals on the surface, Ink can't see Grillby anywhere but there is a young boy with orange flames that looks a lot like him, maybe a brother or son? Ink stops marveling at the pictures (his finger are twitching as he feels his body itch, he really wants to paint something) and looks to the couch. On it sits the spider monster from yesterday, he's curled protectively around Glitchy, his arms circling and petting the black skeleton in comfort.

"Glitchy!" Ink calls out, bounding over to the two monsters with an over abundance of joy. Ink can feel his magic swirling in his head, his eye lights switching between a sun, stars and exclamation marks. He quickly climbs up onto the couch, tugging on Glitchy's coat to gain his attention. Glitchy looks at Ink tiredly, his eye lights slightly fuzzy and wavering as the other skeleton considers him. After a few moments, Glitchy pulls Ink down into the cuddle pile. Ink can feel him twitching in discomfort but he doesn't care, just burrowing further into the bundle of arms and warmth.

"I was so worried about you." Ink whispers against Glitchy's chest. His friends arms tighten around him. He's here now, and if Ink has any say in it, Glitchy wouldn't be leaving him any time soon.

An: I know, I know. It's been forever since I've last updated this story, and this chapter is so short, but I'm not good at continuing stories and once I got to chapter 18, my mind just hit a block. I've been trying to write this chapter on and off for a while now and I've got enough to not feel too bad about posting it up, though I terrible taking so long, so I made a Tumblr that you guys can come bother me at called **baby-boney**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Undyne burst through the Grillby's doors with a loud 'Fuhuhuhu!', the yellow dinosaur, Alfys, is held high over her head. Each child jumps and scampers away from the front door, disappearing to the backroom as quick as a flash. Undyne lowers Alfys, a blush spreading across her blue scaled face.

"Opps." Undyne mutters as she puts Alfys down completely.

"Smooth as usual, Commander." Edge remarks, walking over to his superior with a confidant stride. He shuts Grillby's door, blocking the cold coming in, not that he could feel it, but he did not want to be between Undyne and Grillby's glare. No one disrespects Grillby's building, not even the king (but that's mostly because he never seems to make it to Snowdin anymore). Alfys seems to have the same thoughts running through her head because she's quickly moving towards the back room in her little waddle, a bag (hopefully medical) clutched in her tiny claws, or maybe she just wants to see the children and give them a much-needed medical exam. As much as Edge has never approved of her experiments, he knows that she's currently the most trustworthy doctor the underground has. With King Asgore looming over her shoulders, she wouldn't dare do anything bad to any child.

Undyne simply shrugs it off, never one to care for anything like that. Her carelessness makes Grillby fume, his purple Flames flickering higher than usual.

"So," Undyne says, punctuating her word by clapping her hands together. "I've brought along Alfys to make sure that each child is fit for the journey to the castle. The King has been notified of our development within this case and he is currently talking to the prisoners in waterfall. We will move the children around midday with several guards that the king himself has appointed. Once Alfys has finished with her medical examination, I figured we'd explain how things are going down to the kids instead of blindsiding them."

"How very smart of you…" Grillby mutters, still unhappy about the treatment of his door. "Didn't think you were capable of it."

"Excuse me!" Undyne yells, stomping over to the flame, readying herself for a fight. "What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me." Grillby taunts. He's obviously looking to fry and serve her for diner in payment for hurting his building.

"Alright, alright." Red says, moving off his bar stool to stand between the two hotheads. "If you two want to duke it out, normally I would completely encourage it, but we got the kids to worry about right now, so put yer feud to the side for today and focus on the job at hand, yeah?"

They both back down at the mention of the kids, still glaring out promises of a fight. Undyne glances at the doorway leading to where the children are undoubtedly hiding with guilt in her eye. Grillby goes back to polishing his glass cups. Red musses on how that is the main constant between Grillby's within the Multiverse where not even owning a bar and / or selling alcohol is.

"Yeah, alright. Um…" Undyne stutter out, "I'll just be outside, making sure the guard knows what they're doing."

Edge almost smiles as he admires the results his brother got. Undyne beating a hasty retreat and Grillby easily backing down. While he is the ambitious brother, Red always was the one able to read a room and play the people like fiddles. Not that either brother could play actual fiddles, but as a figure of speech.

…

Alfys quickly looks around the backroom, taking note of each child. The most obvious thing wrong with them is malnutrition, their captors probably didn't care about feeding them and monsters can only survive off of siphoning magic from the surrounding area for so long. She spots a platter off to the side, empty and clean, they probably licked it that way even though Grillby undoubtedly gave them enough to put them in a food coma. He was most likely offended at the monsters who dared thought to not feed these kids, he's all about food with his whole bar thing going on. Rumor has it that he gave all his rations away during the Human Monster War (HMW) and survived off the surrounding woods. Even with their way of life being turned into Kill or Be Killed, he still gives away his food rations, just under a pretence of a bar and no longer for free.

"He-h-h-hel-h." Alfys attempts, pausing to take a deep breath and count to three (a number for each claw-not including her thumb-) as all the children watch her. She spied two skeletal heads poking out from behind six arms, she can't help but to think of coding when she looks at the black skeleton, to bad she wouldn't be able to find out what makes him different, if the king didn't kill her for doing more than fixing his wounds, Papyrus and Sans would without a doubt. "H-hello, c-chil-ldren."

"Hello." The spider monster says. He shifts around to properly face her, shifting the two little monsters into his lap and hugging them to his chest. They seem so tiny amongst all his gangly limbs. The little one, Papyrus and Sans called him Ink or Pink or something like that, seems as happy as can be, giggling as he moved about like a doll, his eyelights changing from the sun, to stars, to smiley faces and so on, Sans's hiding everything else (she can't help but to internally squeal in delight, it is just so cute! She needs pictures or she just might die). The second skeleton, Glitch or Glitched (appropriately enough) seems less happy and more resigned. He's the most damaged of the monsters, cracks all along his bones (undoubtedly more hidden beneath that ridiculously large and dirty jacket, it's still cute the way he tries to shy behind it-she understands the need to become invisible-but the dirt could create infections in his wounds), and something must have happened to his head if the squinting was anything to go by. With how drastically different his eyelights are, the kid probably needs glasses.

"I a-am doc-ctor Alfys. I'm-m here to look a-at your woun-nds, and see about f-fixing them."

She sets her bag beside a coffee table, opening it up and taking out her tools. She explains each one she takes out, giving its name and purpose, even going so far as to test a few on herself. The children slowly gather around her, interested in each instrument she places on the table. The first child she examines after showing them what she has in her bag is the oldest rabbit monster. He gives her his name when she asks, saying that it Joey. His fur is glossy and freshly cleaned. She goes through through motions on him, explain what she's doing before she does it, taking his pulse, some blood for testing, poking around at bruises and bumps to see if they hide any broken bones. Apart from scars, he had nothing that can't be fixed with a few health packed meals. After the examination she sends him off to whatever side of the room he wishes to hang out in, handing him a lollipop (and telling him that only he is to eat this, he doesn't need to share because everyone will be getting one) made from her labs just last night to help speed along the recovery process, she made about three dozen (a baker's dozen) so she has enough for everyone in the building to get two, though the kids only need one and the rest will be saved for emergencies.

Child after child is called upon, the oldest going first (though the spider stays on the couch, idly petting the two skeletons as though they were pets and watching her every movement) and the youngest reluctantly letting her do her work. For the more squeamish she gives the lollipop first, letting them suckle on it as they are held in an older child's lap for comfort. She hasn't seen monsters care for one another like this since she was a child, and even those spotty memories she halfway believes are just feverish dreams. Lastly she gets to the three left. She doesn't really plan on examining the healthy looking skeleton, but he bounces forward, eagerly awaiting his lollipop. She rolls her eyes and gets to work on him, noticing the other skeleton tensing up and watching her more closely than before. If this little guy wants an exam, who is she to say no? Though, Papyrus and Sans might have something to say about the hole in his arm this needle will cause. After taking a small sample of his marrow (little guy had simply pouted at the pain, showing no real sign that he had felt it), she wraps it up with healing bandages, confident that the wound will be gone by tomorrow. With all that done, Alfys hands the tiny bones his lollipop and sends him on his way. Which just means he shrugs Sans's jacket back on and moves two feet to sit next to the other skeleton on the other side of the table, taking one lick of his lollipop before basically shoving it down his friends(?) throat. Alfys doesn't bother trying to stop it since he is healthy enough without it and it wouldn't hurt his companion any. She just focuses on the spider monster in front of her.

She can see the hairline fractures on his right side, moving along his arms and up to a small eye just under his big one, a closer look reveals it murky, he's most likely blind in that one eye but she'll need to do more tests in her labs. She pokes at the fractures and moves the arms (they move easily enough though he winces with pain). She asks him simple questions; where does it hurt, how badly, how long has it been like this, how good is his healing, ect. He answers each one as best he can and she quickly goes about in wrapping his entire right side, putting his arms in a quickly made sling. She'll be taking the ferry to Hotland, which gives her about a day, maybe two to run her tests and come up with a healing plan for each child, most will simply need to eat and rest but the spider and the black skeleton will need more specific plans.

With ideas flying through her mind about what the spider needs, she gives him a lollipop, planning to have Undyne give him another by the end of the day, and turns to her last patient. Who is no longer there, both skeletons having disappeared. She freezes as her mind stops and her soul skips a beat. Her eyes skan over every nook and cranny in the backroom. This could not be happening. She could not have lost her two most important patients in this room. Dear Angel, the skeleton brothers are going to kill her when they come back here.

"D-d-d-di-d-did a-an-anyon-ne s-see w-where t-th-t-t-the t-two s-sk-sk-sklet-tons w-wh-went-t?" She asks, panicking as she imagines her death, Sans has talked in great detail and with pride at all the forms of torture his brother excels in, so it wasn't that hard, just terrifying.

"In the front room." Her first patient answers after processing her stuttering mess of words, the older children watching her panicking with weary faces. She immediately relaxes, almost collapsing with relief. Papyrus and Sans are in the front room, so the two children must be with them.

She packs her bag to bring to the front room, if the other coat of bones is more comfortable doing this in the bar then Alfys doesn't mind. She's not used to being around so many people (at least not ones that aren't being strapped down to an exam table and tested on), and she's starting to get antsy. Entering the front room, a few children shuffling behind her, she's quick to spot her runaway patient sitting on the bar and watching Papyrus and Sans as closely as they are watching him. With the think of the door closing behind her, all eyes turn on her, the black skeletons body slumping in defeat as he spot her, making her sigh as she moves forward to get to work.

An: Not including the author notes; 2,067 words. You're welcome for the extra long chapter, which is to make up for the short chapter that was the last one.

Again, come visit my tumblr I made just for this story (I've even posted some drawings of them) and ask me a few things. I have little actually planned for this story, so who knows? You might give me some ideas and be able to kick my ss into gear. The tumblr is **baby-boney** though I now admit that I should have just gone with some variation my fanfic author name. Oh well.

Now, a few things about this chapter and the characters in general.

Alfys doesn't really like children all that much. She doesn't really like anyone but Undyne (and still writes some fics about Asgore, but those mainly remain in her head for survival reasons), and she loves experimenting, it's her drug. The only reason she is the safest doctor in the underground is because of how closely Asgore is watching her, if she so much as looks at a child with that gleam in her crazed eyes, he will not take kindly to it. So it's paramount to her survival that each child brought under her care leaves healthier than when they arrived, and if she loses one… well, she freaks out at Glitchy and Inks disappearance for very good reasons.

Ink is a very kind and loving monster. He's just ruff about it, even as an adult he has no finesse, which can lead to feelings (and body parts) getting hurt. He shoves the lollipop down Glitchy's throat because it's simply the first solution that comes to mind, he doesn't think to just offer it to his companion because he just want Glitchy to eat it. He means well and Glitchy doesn't really mind, Ink has quickly become this soft spot in his soul.

Glitch himself still has haphephobia (irrational fear of touch), but he has been through so much over the past few days that he simply doesn't have the energy to protest. He knows he's being touched and he is panicking, but it's all background. He can also handle small amounts of touches from Ink because of that earlier soft spot.

Undyne and Grillby do not get along. Sans has to often play referee between the two, and has so far been successful at keeping them from fighting. As a judge, he knows how people tick, but neither appreciates his meddling. This usually results in Undyne giving Papyrus a bigger workload (which he then dumps on Sans because he already has enough to deal with running all of Snowden) and Grillby 'running out' of mustard and ketchup and basically any condiment Sans could ask for. Everything tastes off without his condiments.

I'm also thinking of rewriting the first 17 chapters since each time I go back, it only gets worse and worse. I won't change what happens, I'll just be getting rid of the mistakes and adding more detail in what happens. So, hey, an excuse to go bother me on my tumblr. I check that more often than I check my reviews. And thank you so much for the review DeadlyHuggles (hopefully spelled right, to much of a lazy ss to check), I do not plan on separating them for a very long time with what little to nothing I do have planned. Next update time is in the air because I'm a b sterd with nothing else written.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Glitchy closely watches the strange monster, a feeling in his soul telling him that she can just as easily hurt them as she is treating them, but each child that she helps (while maybe crying from getting poked) leaves the table looking better than when they hopped on. Slowly, he relaxes. Yelling from the bar room catches his attention. He listens closely to the words, hearing them as though they were being said right next to his ear. He seems to have tuned in towards the end though, because another voice (one of the ones who look after Ink) easily breaks up the fighting. Without the mystery of wondering who that unknown voice is, Glitchy is left with once again watching this monster doctor. She's quick and efficient at her job, sending children off almost as soon as they hop on.

Soon, it's down to just three children left. Ink is quick to hop across the table and sit before this new monster, eagerly awaiting his prize. She seems surprised to find him before her, quickly looking over at Harrit and Glitchy before taking a quick peek back at the door. She hadn't done this with anyone else, her suspicious actions making Glitchy sit up straight and closely watch her once again. He notices how her movements are more hurried, her hands shaking slightly, but she seems to be taking even more care than she did with any of the other kids. She's quick to wrap Inks arm with some bandages and pull the giant jacket around him, hurriedly sending him off with one of those green balls on a stick.

Harrit slides Glitchy off him, moving to go see the doctor next. The itching in bones that he had been too distracted to notice is slowly fading away, leaving him to realise that he was extremely uncomfortable earlier. The broken ribs still keep him from breathing but he finally feels like he can.

He snuggles into the corner of the couch, not even wincing when his ribs and back flare up in pain. His attention is taken away from Harrit and the doctor to the very bouncy Ink beside him. He watches as Inks tongue (a rainbow of colors) pokes out to slide across the ball on the stick. Glitchy doesn't even get time to wonder what was wrong before Ink was upon him, shoving his treat down Glitchy's throat. He gags at the intrusion as it jams into the back of his throat, his tongues battling against the hand in his mouth. He doesn't even get time to grab at Ink before the entire thing dissolves, forcing his reflexes to swallow around the fingers in his throat. When Ink finally pulls back, satisfied that Glitchy has eaten it all, the larger skeleton gags and coughs, causing his ribs to scream in protest. He looks up at Ink with tears in his eyes, opening his mouth to tell the little skeleton off (you don't just do that to people!) and no words come out. Ink just looks so happy about it, like he had accomplished this great task.

"Feel better?" He asks, and surprisingly enough, Glitchy does feel better. His bones itch, though not in the same way as when someone is touching him, and he can already feel the pain going down as some of his breaks heal back up. He feels almost giddy, but that doesn't mean he was happy with Inks actions. So he silently slides off the couch and walks over to the door. Inn hurries on after him as he slips out the door and into the front bar.

He can tell that he made a mistake the moment three pairs of eyes swivel to watch him. He has half the mind to turn back around when Ink lets out a gasping shriek thingy and starts to drag him over to the taller skeletons. The grip on his wrist is tight and at the forefront of his mind, his tingling but not itching like before. He reluctantly lets himself be pulled over to the taller monsters, studying the floor his bare feet scrap across. He couldn't see that well in the first place (can barely see two feet in front of him without his glasses) so it's not like he has much to look at. By their souls though, the two skeletons don't seem to happy to see him, more weary than anything else, like he's a cobra about to strike. He shrinks further down, pulling his hood up to hide his face.

"Boss! Sans!" Ink calls out with his adorably shrill voice, "This is Glitchy, my friend." He proudly exclaims, tugging Glitchy forward to properly showcase him.

Glitchy would be hyperventilating by now if he even bothered to breath (which he should probably start doing soon, he was starting to get dizzy holding his breath and not taking in much needed magic from the air) but he simply crosses his arms over his still broken chest, his wince hidden by his oversized hood that reaches his mouth. He can feel their eyes on him, making him uncomfortable and his body glitch a touch more often than normal.

"Hey." The older skeleton says. He doesn't seem to happy about meeting Glitchy, but he doesn't seem angry either, more neutral than what Glitchy was expecting, which, now that he thought about it, he wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting. To be hit, he guesses.

Hunching his shoulders further into himself, ignoring the pain that flares through his bones, he shyly waves a hand in greeting. They already didn't like what little they could see of him, he didn't want to test his luck by speaking with his messed up voice.

The largest skeleton heaves out a sigh that makes Error flinch back. These weren't bad monsters that hurt Ink, these were Inks protectors, Glitchy couldn't do anything ice they didn't like him. Would they force him away from Ink? Would he have to go back to hiding in the shadows? What about the other children? He didn't deserve to be around other children, he is the scum of the multiverse, the worst creature of the multiverse. He shouldn't be standing here. He should be kicked out like a sick pup, the only mercy given to it is a cold death in its sleep.

Giant hands circle around his body, cutting him out of his train of thought as his mind panics. His body locks up and a whine escapes him as he's hoisted into the air. For a few terrifying seconds his body dangles in the air before his feet touch a solid surface. Taking a couple of breaths and powering through the resulting pain, Glitchy clears his sight and finally looks up. He's surprised to find that he doesn't even have to look that far to have the skeleton known as Sans looking right back.

An: So... I don't have much to say except 'here you go'.

baby-boney is my tumblr for this story so check it out and ask me stuff. See some pictures I've drawn. Hell, draw me some pictures and me, I would love that. Come be my friend.

(And I know this chapter is technically still in the past to where we left off last chapter, that was not the plan)


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